The Will of Fire
by Layelle Uchiha
Summary: Fem/Naru story. But isntead of using the generic Naruko, I chose the name Layelle Uzumaki yes it is not Japanese but I really like this name . Better summary inside! Eventual pairings Fem/Naru x Sasuke Basically follows the trials and adventures of the new team 7. Will the girl with the nine tails sealed inside of her destory the village or save it? Rated T for langua
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer! I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters in this story. I just wrote this story so that others can enjoy it. **

**Summary: Layelle Uzumaki is a quiet, smart and somewhat talented young shinobi that is cursed with the burden of carrying the nine tailed fox inside of her. Not asking to be pitied or looked down upon, she works hard to become a strong shinobi and along the way forms new bonds with her teammates and other fellow shinobi. Sometimes losing her way, and blinded for the need to help her friends, but the will of fire is strong inside of her and she will do anything to save her friends.**

**Note: First few chapters start off with them being young, but in the later chapters they will be older. Also, Layelle is a name that I made up and love it…borderline obsessed…I am aware that it is not a Japanese name, but seeing how she is my original character I wanted an original name, not the generic Naru/Naruko name…sorry! Yes her hair is white….something else I am obsessed with (Yeah I'm weird). I mean Sakura has pink hair, Gaara has bright red hair, I don't think adding a character with white hair is very strange. Again she is my original character so she doesn't have blonde hair. Yes I am aware that probably 98% of you know what shinobi means, but there is that 2% that doesn't. I just want to cover my basics. **

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 1**

**火**

Okay! Today is my first official day as a shinobi [1]! You hear that mother, father?" A small scrawny girl with pure white hair says to the empty room. "I'm going to make you proud." _I've never known my parents, I don't even know what they look like, but talking to them and just acting like they are up there listening gives me the confidence to continue living my life._

After quickly putting her long flowing white hair into a pony tail and slipping into her black zori [2], the girl runs out the door of her small apartment and into the warm summer air. Full of excitement and nervous energy, she reaches her destination quickly. _I hope this is the right bridge, nobody is here yet. Guess I am a little early. _Quietly, the girl sits on the railing and stares up at the sky in wonder, watching the large clouds drift lazily across the sky. But a rather loud and obnoxious voice breaks the peaceful silence.

"Sasuke! I'm so happy we are going to be on the same team! Let's train together!" A girl with a large forehead and long pink hair squeals with excitement as her and a boy with onyx eyes and spiky raven black hair approach the bridge.

_Why does Sakura always have to be so loud? She's constantly fawning over Sasuke like he's a cute little puppy. Can't she get the hint that he doesn't like her? Ugh, so annoying!_

As the two reach the bridge, the pink-haired girl's squealing stops abruptly. "Why does she have to be on our team? Compared to you Sasuke, she's so weak! Sasuke, she's just going to hold you back."

"I can hear you, you know." _Stupid._

"Whatever," she replies with her tongue sticking out. "Hey Sas—"

"Will you just shut up already? You're so annoying Sakura." The raven-haired boy says coldly. With the love of her life having just scolded her, Sakura goes off and sits by herself on the riverbank, pouting.

"It is going to be a long day." The white-haired girl says to no one in particular. Several hours later, the three are still sitting there, waiting for their team leader to arrive.

"I thought Kakashi sensei said he'd be here three hours ago!" Sakura wines, breaking her silence, clearly over the scolding Sasuke had given her a few hours before. Right on cue a puff of smoke appears to reveal a man wearing standard jounin uniform, the bottom half of his face hidden behind a mask and his left eye covered by his leaf headband."Sensei, you're late!"

"So sorry guys, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way around."

"Yeah right," Layelle mumbles to herself.

"Now let's get to our first mission. It seems our client's cat has gone missing and she has hired us to find him and return him to her. Any questions? None? Okay good. Get going because later we have to help Mrs. Yamakawa weed her herb garden. And when I say we, I mean you three."

"Are we really going to do menial things like that?"

"Yeah can't we go on a real mission?" Layelle adds to Sasuke's previous remark.

"You three are genin you will only be getting D-ranked missions. So stop complaining and do as you are told. Every genin starts off with low ranked missions and eventually with experience your missions will become harder. Understand?"

"Yes sensei."

"Good. Now I've got some things I need to do so I will find you guys and check on you later. Have fun!" and with another puff of smoke, the silver-haired jounin is gone.

"That bastard! Leaving us to do all the work!" Sakura yells, slamming her fist into her hand.

"Just shut up and let's get to work," Sasuke replies as he gets up.

"Yeah, the sooner we start, the faster we can get done."

**火**

**Two Weeks Later**

"Okay team. Today we will be painting—"

"Sensei please, can we do something else besides these chores?" Sakura pleads, the other two nodding their heads in agreement. _Sakura is right, these are nothing but chores. Academy students should be doing this._

"Listen, the missions you are assigned isn't up to me. You'll have to bring it up with the hokage. But I will see what I can do. I have to report on your progress to the hokage later today so if the opportunity arises then I will ask about you three getting more difficult missions. But in the meantime you're just going to have to make due. So as I was saying earlier, today you will be painting Mr. Suzuki's fence. Have fun!" A puff of smoke and he's gone.

**火**

**Hokage's Office**

"Kakashi, how is your team doing?"

"Quite well, a few complaints here and there but overall not so bad."

"Oh, complaining about what?"

"They want more difficult missions. It seems that they believe they are more skilled than they really are."

"Yes, seems like they are ready to grow up," the hokage laughs. "Give them a test. If they pass then they will start getting slightly more challenging missions. If they fail, well then they will just have to continue painting fences and retrieving lost cats."

"Understood," Kakashi bows his head and turns to leave.

"Kakashi."

"Yes hokage-sama?"

"Tell me, how is that Uzumaki girl doing?"

"She is doing fine, having a little trouble getting along with Sakura, but one day she will make a decent shinobi."

"Good. Just do me a favor and keep a close eye on her."

"Yes hokage-sama."

**火**

**Training Grounds-Next Day**

"Late again sensei!" Sakura fumes.

"Heh, sorry guys. I was busy helping this little old lady cross the street."

"For two hours?"

"It was a very wide street…Anyway, so the reason we are meeting here today is because I have a test for you."

"What kind of test," Sasuke asks semi-interested in the conversation.

"A teamwork exercise. If you pass then…"

"Then what!" Sakura and Layelle ask, practically bursting at the seams.

"Well, I will tell you if, I mean when you pass."

"Just tell us what we have to do already." Sasuke demands irritably.

"It's simple really. All you have to do is each of you get these bells from me," he says as he takes two bells out of a pocket, jingling as he does.

"But there are only two bells."

"That is correct Sakura. You will have to figure out a way to get them. And to get them, you can use any means necessary. If you're not prepared to kill me then you will not be able to get the bells. Got it?"

"Hai," they all respond simultaneously.

"Good. On the count of three the test will begin. 1…2…3…Go!"

Immediately all three genin disappear from sight, Kakashi pulling out the latest edition of Make Out Paradise from his belt pouch.

_ Is he really going to read a book? Show's how much confidence he has in us,_ Layelle thinks to herself.

_Well they understand what hiding means anyway. Looks like this might take awhile._ He flips to the next page.

Suddenly a handful of kunai fly out from the bushes, heading straight for Kakashi's head, but at the last moment, he ducks, easily avoiding them.

"Going to have to do better than that!" he taunts. Without warning Sasuke jumps out from his hiding spot, several feet into the air. Moving his hands with lightning speed, he forms the necessary hand signs for a jutsu.

"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" A large ball of fire shoots out from his lips from in between his index finger and thumb, the fireball quickly expanding and consuming the reading jounin.

_Did Sasuke get him? No, it can't be that easy._

The moment Sasuke lands, Kakashi appears behind him and sends Sasuke flying with a kick. "Impressive that someone your age can successfully execute such a high level jutsu. But you're still going to have to do better than that if you want to get these bells from me!"

_My turn!_

Jumping down from her hiding spot, Layelle draws a kunai and charges her sensei, after easily dodging several well aimed punches and kicks Kakashi lands a single blow, causing Layelle to dissipate with a puff of smoke. _A shadow clone, how interesting._ Several more shadow clones charge, but are quickly defeated.

"Come on guys, I know you are genin level but so far you're fighting at—" The soft jingle of bells stops him mid-sentence. Quickly, Kakashi jumps into the air to see nothing but empty space.

"I've got you this time sensei!" Layelle boasts as she appears behind Kakashi in midair, but he easily foils her attempt at stealing the bells.

_That was close. How did she sneak up on me like that? Hmm, Sakura hasn't made a move yet. _

Suddenly Kakashi disappears leaving Sasuke and Layelle baffled, but a scream in the distance confirms their suspicions.

_That was easy. If a simple genjutsu freaked her out that much, I'd hate to see what she would do against an actual opponent. Now for the others…_

_ Think Layelle, use your head. If Sasuke can't defeat him on his own, then you surely can't. I'm beginning to understand, we're going to all have to work together._ As quickly and quietly as she can, Layelle runs after her teammates, finding Sasuke first. 

"Hey Sasuke."

"Yeah?"

"We can't do this alone. We're going to have to work together. You know where Sakura is? I haven't seen her since this thing began."

"Yeah you're right. That was her screaming earlier, it sounded like it came just north of where we are now. Let's get going."

Together the two move in the direction they heard Sakura scream, easily finding her sprawled out on the ground unconscious.

"Hey Sakura," Layelle whispers, lightly shaking her. "I said wake up!" this time shaking her harder.

"Wh—what happened?"

"Sensei is what happened. Come on we need to come up with a plan."

**火**

"I wonder where those three have gone. It's been a while since their last attempt. Maybe I should go looking for them." He turns another page. "On second thought, I'll stay right here."

More kunai fly out from the trees and bushes, heading towards Kakashi with incredible speed, but he easily dodges them. Another wave, and then another fly out from hidden spots, Kakashi dodging them, making it look as though he were dancing. But without warning in the midst of all the flying kunai a giant fireball works its way into the fray, followed by two more from different directions, creating a smoke screen when they explode. Out of the smoke come fifteen shadow clones, plus the real Layelle, all kicking and punching without abandon. Simultaneously Sakura sneaks up, her fingers grazing the bells. Catching on, Kakashi jumps high into the air, landing silently on a tree branch.

"Okay stop."

"Sensei we haven't gotten the bells yet."

"Yes I can see that Layelle. But the exercise is over. Even though you have failed to obtain the bells, you still pass my test."

"Huh?"

"This was a teamwork exercise. I had to see if you three were capable as working as a team," Kakashi replies, putting away his book and jumping back onto the ground. "At first things were looking bleak, but there towards the end you three really banded together and started working as a team. This shows me that you are ready for more slightly difficult missions."

"Really?" Sakura asks in amazement.

"Yes, so as a reward for passing, you three get to help Mrs. Yamakawa pick some herbs and then deliver them to the hospital."

"Sensei!" All three yell in unison.

"And then tomorrow morning at eight meet me outside of the hokage's office."

"Haha yeah!"

"Now get going, don't want to be late! See you tomorrow!" A puff of smoke and he's gone.

**[1] Ninja**

**[2] Shoes worn in Naruto world**

**This is the revised version of the original chapter 1. I added/changed a few things. Thanks again for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden or anything related to it. **

**Chapter 2**

Together the four of them, with a drunken Tazuna in tow, leave the village. As they walk, Layelle does her best to tune out Sakura once again fawning over Sasuke. _Does she ever shut up? You'd think her voice would go hoarse from all the squealing and fawning she does over him. Maybe she's somehow related to a pig. I mean she certainly squeals like one and has pink hair. Yeah, that must be it,_ Layelle says to herself as her lips form into a small smirk. After several hours of walking, Layelle immerses herself in the scenery, taking everything in. A dense forest lines their path on both sides, countless birds chirrping and flying from branch to branch, the blue sky clear and unblemished by clouds. Everything was almost perfect. A puddle in the middle of the road catches her eye. _That's odd._

Suddenly, a black mass appears from the puddle taking on the shape of two men in black cloaks with claws for one of their hands connected by a razor sharp chain. Together the two lunge towards the group, wrapping their chain around Kakashi-sensei and with a flick of their wrists reduce him to nothing but blood.

"Oh no, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screams, her face contorted into a look of horror.

_Is he really dead? No, he can't be,_ Layelle thinks to herself.

Taking charge, Sasuke drops his pack and draws a kunai from his belt and throws it at the two, pinning them to a nearby tree. Quickly, he jumps and lands on their enormous mechanical claws and pulls the chain from them, disconnecting the two, only to be shoved off into another tree. Ridding themselves of Sasuke, the two then charge towards the bridge builder.

Seeing that Sasuke is too far away, Layelle draws her own kunai as the two enemy shinobi approach. But as they draw nearer, Layelle's blood turns to ice and she freezes into place. Just as they run past her, and are almost upon Sakura and the bridge builder, at the last second Kakashi reappears, holding the two enemy shinobi in a headlock.

_Show off,_ Sasuke says to himself.

"Sorry guys, I would have intervened earlier, but I didn't expect you to freeze Layelle. If I hadn't used a replacement jutsu and actually died, you all would be dead too right now. Sasuke, Sakura, you did well."

"Yes sensei," all three reply, Layelle embarrassed.

"Now Tazuna, you have some explaining to do. When you asked for an escort, you said that you just needed standard protection, but it is evident that those shinobi were clearly after you. They weren't just random thugs, they were hired hands. Missions like this would normally be listed as B-rank or higher. I'm afraid that this mission is out of our scope."

"Uhh, well you see my people cannot afford to pay for a B-rank level or higher. Plus I really didn't expect that children would be protecting me. Please, this bridge means everything to my people, please continue to guard me," A now sober Tazuna pleads while on his knees, clearly desperate.

"Sensei, I believe that we can handle this, please let us continue the mission. I promise that I won't freeze again. I can do this!" Layelle also pleads. Sakura and Sasuke both nodding their heads in agreement to complete the mission.

"Very well. If we are to continue this mission, I need to know details. Who is it that hired these two men and why. If you don't explain I will drop this mission and my team and I will return to the villge, leaving you where you stand."

"It seems I have no choice but to tell you. Alright, as you said before this mission is way above what you were expecting. The man after me is very powerful, he may be short but he casts a very long shadow. I believe you have at least heard of him, the shipping magnate, Gato."

"But why is Gato after you? He is a business man, why would he be after you?" Kakashi exclaims in surprise.

"Yes it is true that he is a business man. But from behind the scenes he is ruthless and deals in drubs and human trafficking through the use of gangs and hired shinobi. He came to the Land of Waves about a year ago and took total control over all of our transport and shipping. Because of this being an island nation, if you control the seas, you control everything. The bridge I am building will lessen his control and eliminate a need for his shipping. That is why he wants me dead, because I am a bridge builder."

**火**

"Zabuza, explain yourself! Why have you failed! I paid top dollar for you and you fail! Now the shinobi escorting the old geezer will be expecting you to return and make another attempt on his life!" A short man yells, his face red with anger.

"Pipe down. I was merely testing their strength. This time I will go personally, and I will not fail." An evil laugh emanating from this throat.

**火**

After deciding to not drop the mission, the group continues along their way in silence, and after a short boat ride through a heavy mist the company reaches the Land of Waves.

"Now take me to my home, and in one piece if you don't mind." Tazuna demands.

_This situation could get messy. Those last shinobi were chuunin level. The next assassins they send won't be chuunin but will be jounin. Very troublesome indeed,_ the silver haired Kakashi says to himself with a worried look on his face. As ordered, they head towards Tazuna's house, their path cutting through a dense forest filled with many unfriendly shadows.

_Someone is following us,_ Layelle says to herself. _I can feel the vibrations they are making through the ground._

**FlashBack**

"Where is that stupid girl with the white hair? Here kitty kitty, where are you?" A boy with brown hair coos.

"Yeah, let's get her!" Another boy exclaims in excitement.

But I was nowhere to be found. I heard their conversation from several meters away, and felt the vibrations their clumsy steps were making.

**End FlashBack**

Quickening her pace, Layelle catches up with Kakashi. "Hey sensei, there is someone following us."

"Yeah I know. But the real question is how do you know?"

"It's a thing I can do. I can sense the vibrations of people's movements through the ground. Call it a sixth sense."

_How interesting._"I want you to keep on your toes and you three protect the bridge builder. I'll take care of this guy."

"Yes sensei."

**This is the revised chapter 2. I didn't change very much, just a few small things. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden or anything related to the subject matter.**

**Chapter 3**

Quickening her pace, Layelle catches up with Kakashi. "Hey sensei, there is someone following us."

"Yeah I know. But the real question is how do you know?"

"It's a thing I can do. I can sense the vibrations of people's movements through the ground. Call it a sixth sense."

_How interesting_. "I want you to keep on your toes and you three protect the bridge builder. I'll take care of this guy."

"Yes sensei."

火

Half unexpectedly, from out of the shadows of the forest, a giant sword appears heading straight for all of their heads.

"Everyone, get down!" Kakashi yells, and not being able to see the sword Layelle ducks just as it sails by, mere inches above her face. The sword imbeds itself deeply with a loud crack into the nearest tree. Everyone sighing in relief after the narrow miss, but as swift as the wind, a man appears standing on the sword's hilt, an evil laugh echoing throughout the area.

"Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja, a worthy opponent indeed. But once I kill you I will then kill those poor excuses for shinobi, and then I will kill the old man."

"I won't let you lay a finger on these kids or the bridge builder. You three, stay by Tazuna and protect him. This man is way out of your league. He is Zabuza Momochi, a rogue shinobi from the village hidden in the mist. And it looks like I am going to need this," Kakashi says in his usual calm demeanor as he lifts the left side of his headband, revealing his left eye.

_So it is true, sensei does have the Sharingan_, Sasuke says to himself as the three genine surround Tazuna.

"Enough talking, I will kill you Kakashi Hatake!"

Swiftly, Zabuza unsheathes his sword from the tree, causing it to split in two and fall to the ground, and attacks Kakashi. When sword and kunai meet, sparks are sent flying, only to die once they reach the dirt, all three genine's eyes reflecting awe for the battle that is unfolding before them. Both jounin execute several high level and complex jutsu, turning the serene forest into a battle ravaged blemish.

_With sensei's Sharingan, this battle should be over soo__—_

_ Suddenly, out of the shadows a figure wearing a white mask with only two small slits for eyes and red swirls around the nonexistent mouth appears. His long dark hair pulled back behind his head, two long strands left out to frame his face. _

_ "Haku, you're late."_

_ "Forgive me. I thought you could handle this, but apparently that man is too much for you," a smooth and emotionless voice replies from behind the mask._

_ "Shut it Haku. Leave this one to me. Dispose of those children and the bridge builder."_

_ "No!" Kakashi yells, but Zabuza presses on stronger than before with his attacks, completely capturing his attention. __Those three will have to fend for themselves until I can get rid of Zabuza. I need to end this quickly!_

_"Sakura, Layelle, stay by Tazuna and protect him. I can handle this guy," Sasuke says coldly._

_"But—" Layelle stammers, but Sasuke is already gone and engaged with the newcomer. "Sakura, stay with Tazuna, I'm going to help Sasuke," she says as she pulls out a kunai and runs off after Sasuke, leaving Sakura to defend Tazuna alone._

火

_I've got to catch up with Sasuke! He can't just fight that guy all on his own!__ Quickening her pace, Layelle finally sees Sasuke and Haku in the clearing, but something is wrong. Sasuke is breathing heavily and several long needles protrude from his legs. __Oh no! __Just mere feet away, Layelle stops dead in her tracks._

_"Crystal Ice Mirrors!" The voice from behind the mask says smoothly, and without warning enormous mirrors made of ice surround Sasuke from all sides cutting off any hope of escape. The masked enemy then calmly walks up to one of the mirrors and disappears inside of it._

_With a feeling of dread welling up inside the pit of her stomach, Layelle closes the gap and reaches the icy prison. _

_"Sasuke! Are you in there?" she yells._

_"Layelle, I can't get out of here. Try to break the mirrors from the outside!" But it was too late, Layelle was already there standing beside a beaten up Sasuke. "You idiot! Why did you come in here?" he demands furiously._

_"You needed help so I snuck in…"_

_"You are both fools to think you can defeat my jutsu. There is no escape, you will both die here. I will kill you slowly but surely. I know every pressure point, every weakness that exists on the human body. Each area where vital nerves lurk just beneath the skin. My master has ordered me to kill you, and kill you I shall. There is no escaping, so accept your deaths with honor," the emotionless voice states with confidence._

火

_"Looks like Haku is about to finish of those brats of yours Kakashi." Zabuza taunts. "His kekkei genkai is absolutely brilliant and has a one hundred percent kill rate. Those pathetic genine have no chance."_

_"You're wrong Zabuza they are stronger than they look." _

火

_ "Sasuke, this is impossible! I can't see where this guy is at!" Layelle yells to her teammate as another wave of senbon come flying out of the mirrors and towards the pair. Several biting deeply into their bodies. __I can't even sense his vibrations, what is this jutsu? Wait a second, what is wrong with Sasuke's eyes? Are they red?_

_Finally, it's happened. My Sharingan has awoken, and it couldn't have done it at a better time. I can see his moves now,"__ he thinks to himself as he successfully dodges another wave of senbon, while Layelle is hit again._

_"Layelle! Stand back, I've got this."_

_"Okay." __His eyes look like sensei's one eye did. What's going on?_

_Sasuke draws his last kunai and gets into a defensive position, his eyes wide and alert. Quickly he charges at one of the mirrors, then reverses his momentum and fires a fireball towards the adjacent mirror. The mirror exploding in a cloud of mist as it evaporates._

_"It seems like I have underestimated you, but I will not make that mistake again." __You may be able to avoid my senbon, but your friend cannot.__ Quickly, Haku disappears before reappearing in the mirror behind Layelle, sending a barrage of senbon all aimed to kill. _

_Realizing his intentions, Sasuke instinctively speeds towards Layelle as the senbon descend upon her. Fearfully Layelle closes her eyes, preparing for the end, but something pushes her, knocking her to the ground. Upon opening her eyes and sitting up, Layelle looks to see what saved her, only to see Sasuke lying on the ground next to her, his eyes closed and a thin line of blood trickling down his chin from his mouth. _

_"Sasuke? Sasuke, can you hear me? Why did you do that?" Layelle pleads to her teammate. _

_Slowly Sasuke weakly opens his eyes, "I made a promise—" But his eyes close and his body goes limp before he could finish._

_Seeing her fallen teammate, an anger so intense begins to well up inside of Layelle, replacing her blood with fire. The small whisker–like scars on her cheeks begin to grow and darken and her eyes once the most beautiful blue are now the color of fresh blood, a feral growl escaping her throat._

_"I will kill you, you bastard!" Layelle screams to the mirrors._

火

_What is this feeling? The air has become so heavy, it is hard to breathe. What is going on over there?_

_"Kakashi, what is this trick? The air has become so dense I can barely breathe!" _

_Seeing this as an advantage, Kakashi ignores the discomfort and attacks Zabuza with renewed vigor._

火

Red chakra begins to swirl around Layelle, the wind picking up speed and ferocity, creating a deafening roar. Faster than humanly possible, Layelle charges towards the nearest mirror and shatters it with one punch. Seeing Haku reappear in a different mirror, sends Layelle into a frenzy, a roar so terrifying escapes her mouth that it sends a shiver down Haku's spine.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Layelle screams as she aims to shatter another mirror and then another. Soon hardly any mirrors remain. Taking advantage of this, Layelle grabs Haku by his hair as he attempts to enter a new mirror, and slams him into the ground, creating a small crater. Layelle is upon him in an instant, pummeling him with punches so powerful the crater begins to deepen. A red glow beginning to envelope her, complete with fox ears and a tail, and fangs now forming replacing her teeth.

"Zabuza forgive me, I have failed you." The next punch snaps Haku's spine in half, killing him and ending the ice mirror jutsu. Her blood lust still not sated, Layelle disappears only to reappear next to a stunned Zabuza, Kakashi equally stunned at the turn of events. Layelle kicks Zabuza, sending him flying several meters away. She then quickly charges towards him but is interrupted by Kakashi.

"Layelle, stop!" He yells as he grabs her arm and wrestles her to the ground, incapacitating her. Kakashi forms several shadow clones to help keep still, more feral growls escaping her throat. "Everything is okay, you need to calm down!"

Ever so slowly her fangs begin to shorten, turning back into normal human teeth and the red glow slowly fades. Her eyes are the last to change before closing as Layelle slips into unconsciousness. After making sure that she is okay, Kakashi walks over to the still bewildered Zabuza.

"This battle is over, you have lost. Your comrade has fallen and you are outnumbered and outmatched."

"No it is you that are outnumbered and outmatched," a new voice adds. "Zabuza, you and that boy have failed me again. It seems if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"Gato I presume," Kakashi replies calmly.

"That is correct. And after I dispose of that failure I will finish the job and kill the bridge builder. I will have you and your team killed as well if you do not stand down. As you can see, you are sorely outnumbered." He gestures towards the large group of men carrying weapons standing behind him.

Slowly, Zabuza stands and walks over to the horde of men, his sword resting on his shoulder. "I have had just about enough of you. I have not failed as long as this body still draws breath. Go back to your safe house and stay out of this."

"Hmm, you will die just like that boy. One of my men saw the whole thing, that little girl over there destroyed him. It was quite impressive really." Gato taunts.

"Haku is dead? You just stood by and watched as he was killed? I will never forgive you," enraged Zabuza charges towards the small man with his sword drawn and thirsty for blood.

"Men, whoever kills him will be paid double!" Gato yells, fearful for his life. At the promise of more money the hired thugs charge with weapons blazing.

"Sensei!" Sakura yells as she runs up to Kakashi, Tazuna close behind carrying the unconscious Sasuke. "What's going on? Is Layelle okay?"

"She's going to be fine. How is Sasuke?"

"He's okay. I think he just—" but the sounds of battle cut her off. Barely standing, Zabuza approaches the now defenseless Gato, his sword the color of crimson and various wounds scarring his body.

"Stop! Please don't kill me! I will do anything," the already small man begs while on his knees. But ignoring his pleads but Zabuza lifts his sword and with the last of his strength separates Gato's head from his shoulders before collapsing on the ground.

"Sakura stay here." Kakashi says grimly.

"Yes sensei," her voice equally grim. Slowly, Kakashi walks over to the collapsed Zabuza, his breathing labored and shallow.

"Kakashi, could…you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Help me to Haku." Just as if they were old friends, Kakashi helps Zabuza over to his fallen comrade. "Haku, forgive me, I have failed you, and you paid for that with your life. I'm sorry," his voice weak as the sun begins to set on the horizon, painting the sky with bright reds and deep purples. Slowly, with his hand resting on his fallen friend's, Zabuza closes his eyes forever.

火

"I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and Layelle, you are welcome to my home any time you wish. Now that the bridge is complete the Land of Waves will prosper once again. Everyone has also agreed to name the bridge after your team. The Squad Seven Bridge will stand as a symbol of freedom and friendship for many years to come."

**This is the revised version of chapter 3. I added and changed a few things so make sure to read!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay! So here goes for chapter4!**

**Again I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden or anything related to the two! Am writing this story just for fun! Besides if I did own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden things would be A LOT different….Muahahahahaha!**

**Please Enjoy! ^_^**

**Quick question! Do you guys prefer longer chapters (because I could easily make them longer) or do you like their current length?**

**Chapter 4**

**火**

It has been almost a year since the mission to the Land of Waves, and because of that mission, Team 7's bonds have grown stronger. After having proving themselves, the team's days of D-ranked missions are a thing in the past.

"I Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Hokage of the Leaf Village have called you, the team captains to this meeting. As you are all aware the chuunin exams are quickly approaching, based on your opinions are any of your squads ready to take the exams?" All of the squad captains nod their heads, except one.

"Kakashi, do you not think your team ready?" The old man questions.

"I do have confidence in my team but I am not one hundred percent sure they are ready. I mean they think that they are but I'm not sure."

"Everyone please leave us."

"Yes Hokage-sama," all the captains say in unison as they disappear from the room.

"Speak your mind Kakashi. Is this about the Uzumaki girl?"

"Yes. During our last major battle in the Land of Waves I believe the fox started to take over. She had incredible power and easily defeated both the boy Haku and Zabuza..."

"And you're afraid that she will do that again and hurt a fellow shinobi."

"Precisely. If it weren't for that I would say they were ready. Sasuke Uchiha is brilliant, at such a young age he has mastered the fireball jutsu and with his Sharingan I believe that he would easily be able to pass. Even Sakura Haruno I believe would pass. She shows great chakra control and shows signs that she could become a great medical-nin."

"And the Uzumaki girl has no talent?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"No, her senses are top notch, she even sensed Zabuza's presence before I did, and not to mention her reflexes are incredible and the amount of chakra she possesses is unheard of…"

"Then I see no problem in allowing them to take part in the chuunin exams. The girl and I had a long talk when you guys got back from that mission with the bridge builder. I have faith she won't hurt a fellow shinobi."

**Flashback:**

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?"

"Yes my dear Layelle. I heard about what happened in the Land of Waves. I would like to speak with you about it. How much do you know about the night you were born thirteen years ago?"

"I was told my father died in the battle between the nine-tailed fox and the village, and that my mother died giving birth to me."

"Do you know what happened to the nine-tailed fox?"

"No I don't, whenever I ask somebody about it they ignore me."

"What I am about to tell you is taboo and you mustn't discuss this with anybody."

"I understand Hokage-sama."

"Thirteen years ago the fourth hokage sealed the spirit of the nine-tailed fox inside of a newborn baby, and in the process it took his life. The spirit of the fox was sealed inside of you."

"Inside of me?"

"Yes inside of you. That explains what happened in the Land of Waves. You're emotions seem, specifically anger, to trigger the fox's spirit and cause it to temporarily take control of your body."

"So you're saying I must learn to control them, control my emotions, so that I won't hurt anyone."

"That is correct. Hopefully through your training and development as a shinobi you will learn to control the demon that is inside of you."

**End Flashback**

"Hey Layelle! Want to get some lunch with me and Sasuke?" Sakura yells up to Layelle's window. "Hey Layelle, are you there?" _Wow she has a big mouth. I can hear her clear up on the top floor!_ "Oh come on please!" Sakura wines louder than before.

"Fine, I'll be down in a minute." _I would much rather spend today alone doing something else seeing how this is our first day off in months. But she won't go away so I guess I should just get it over with._ Keeping to her word, Layelle jumps out of the window and lands silently on the ground next to Sakura and Sasuke.

"What the—how did you do that? You were on the top floor of a ten story building!"

"Never mind that. Where did you want to get lunch at?"

"How about Ichiraku's? It's your favorite place isn't?"

"Yeah sure, that's okay. Sasuke that fine with you?" Instead of replying, Sasuke gives his usual "hn" as a reply. Together the three genine walk to the ramen shop, Sakura as usual fawning over Sasuke and Layelle tuning her out. _Even though she is annoying, Sakura is a good friend that I am glad to have. Same with Sasuke, he can be cold and obsessed with his whole revenge thing but he is a good friend. Never thought I would have friends like these…_

"Oh and Layelle."

"Yes Sakura?"

"Happy Birthday! You're fourteen now right? Same age as Sasuke and I!"

"Thanks Sakura."

"Umm, yeah happy birthday Layelle," Sasuke squeaks in, his face slightly blushed.

"Thanks Sasuke."

Just as the troop was about to sit down to lunch, Kakashi appears in a puff of smoke. "Oh hello Kakashi-sensei," Sakura says in surprise.

"You three, I've got something to discuss with you. Meet me tomorrow morning at the usual spot, let's say around eight. See ya then!" With another puff of smoke the silver-haired jounin disappears.

"I wonder what he wants to talk about. You got any ideas Sasuke?" Sakura asks in her usual winey voice.

"Not a clue. Guess we will find out tomorrow."

**火**

That night, after just stepping out of the shower, getting dressed and with her hair still dripping someone softly knocks at her door. "Be right there!" With her towel still wrapped around her shoulders she answers the door. "Oh Sasuke! What can I help you with?" Without saying a word the raven haired boy closes the gap between them and kisses her on the lips before quickly turning around and disappearing into the darkness.

Too shocked at what just happens Layelle just stands there dumbly for a few minutes before closing the door and collapsing onto her bed. _What just happened?_ She thinks to herself as she touches her lips. _Did Sasuke just kiss me? I didn't think he liked me in that way. Do I like him like that?_

**火**

The next morning, Layelle quickly gets dressed in her usual attire, a white tank top with the leaf symbol on it, black cargo pants with her headband as her belt and with her hair in its usual messy braid and is out the door. The previous night's events still burning in her mind.

Just as Kakashi-sensei ordered, the three genine were waiting at the bridge at eight, but with Kakashi nowhere to be found.

"That old bastard is going to be late again!" Sakura wines to her teammates.

"I wonder what excuse he will come up with this time," Sasuke replies in his usual tone. Unsure of what to do, Layelle just sits in her usual spot on the railing staring up at the sky. _Should I ask him about last night?_ "Hey can we talk?" The sound of his voice causing Layelle to jump.

"Oh sorry I guess I didn't hear you coming. Yeah sure."

"About last night, I'm sorry for just showing up like I did and then leaving suddenly."

"What did that kiss mean?" her voice quiet and unsure.

"I kinda, sort of like you. I mean more than a friend. After I kissed you I thought you would be mad so I left." He says in a quiet voice, obviously not use to this kind of thing.

"Oh," Layelle's face a bright red. "I—" But a puff of smoke cuts off what she was about to say next.

"Yo!" the silver-haired ninja says with his eye in the shape of a U.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're late! Again!" Sakura yells.

"Oh well you see I have a good explanation as to why I am late. You see—"

"Just cut the crap sensei, we all know you were just reading your pervy books!"

"Ahem, well then let's cut to the chase." _I can't believe them, having such little faith in their sensei._ "So I called you here on your day off to discuss something very important. The chuunin exams are coming up soon and you three will be participating."

"What! No way!" Layelle exclaims, breaking her silence. "Sensei, you really think we're ready for it?"

"After much contemplation, yes. The exams begin one week from now. You will be excused from missions so that you can train and work on your teamwork. If you'd like, we can do another one of those exercises where you try to get the bells from me. Since you all failed miserably last time." All three genine nod their head in approval. "Right then, let's get started!"

Together, the four of them head to the same spot they were the last time they did something like this. "Now same rules apply, minus the whole failing part and being tied to the pole, though that would be funny…Anyway, you won't get these bells unless you are prepared to kill me."

"Sensei, you aren't going to be reading a book this time are you?"

"Probably not," _Yeah these kids are getting better, I probably won't be able to read. At least though I won't need my sharingan. _"Okay, ready, set, go!" but before Kakashi could finish saying go, all three disappear.

_Okay I need to find the others so we can come up with a plan. Take a deep breath and concentrate, feel the vibrations…There they are!_ Wasting no time, Layelle reaches Sakura first. "Come on we need to get to Sasuke."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, by the river."

"Let's go!" In no time Layelle and Sakura, but mostly because of Layelle, the two rendezvous with Sasuke.

"So what's the plan?" Sakura asks.

"Layelle, you and I attack him, Sakura you grab the bells."

"How should we go about attacking him?"

"I'll hit him with a fireball. Layelle you create some shadow clones, look for an opening and go all out. After I complete my fireball jutsu I will also charge in, and with my sharingan, distracting him should be a piece of cake. And with him distracted, Sakura use your stealth and grab the bells."

"What if it—"

"Shhh!" Layelle whispers cutting off Sakura. "He's coming."

"Okay places!"

Sasuke first approaches the jounin by jumping high into the air, forming the hand signs needed for his fireball. "Fire style: fireball jutsu!" Just like last time an enormous fireball erupts from Sasuke's mouth and engulfs Kakashi. Predicting their attack, Kakashi easily steps out of the way and appears behind the young shinobi.

"Not going to work!" He boasts as he kicks Sasuke from the sky, landing a few feet from him. Suddenly Layelle appears out of nowhere and throws a kunai, but Kakashi easily dodges it and the shadow disappears after he lands a well aimed kick. Two more appear out of thin air and latch on to the silver-haired shinobi but are quickly reduced to smoke.

"Come on you guys, I am very disappointed. Come at me like you mean it!"

"You are going to regret that statement, Kakashi-sensei," Layelle retorts with a smirk. Because out of the lake, the real Layelle jumps out of the water and starts barraging him with kicks and punches, a few coming closer than Kakashi would have liked. Then Sasuke, with his sharingan, joins the fight, completely distracting the shinobi. Seeing the opportune time, Sakura sneaks up, her fingers brushing them, their light ringing sound catching Kakashi's attention. Just as the three thought they were home-free, the Kakashi they were attacking disappears in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone! Crap!"

"Got ya." Kakashi boasts triumphantly as he appears and apprehends the three genine. "Like I said earlier, you're going to have to do better than that. Well, that's enough for the day. Your teamwork has improved greatly, but keep working on it. I'll see you guys tomorrow bright and early. Same time same place! See ya!" and he disappears in a puff of smoke.

"Yeah I'll be going too. See you guys later!" and Sakura too leaves, walking back to her home, leaving Sasuke and Layelle alone.

"You leaving too, Layelle?"

"I'm not ready to go back to my room just yet. It makes me feel claustrophobic. Hey, you want to spar for a little while?"

"Sure."

**火**

Almost a week has gone by since Layelle's birthday, and since Sasuke kissed her. Every night after Kakashi goes over new maneuvers, and after him and Sakura leave, Sasuke and Layelle spar. Their movements flowing like water, their rhythm in perfect harmony. It was as if they were made for each other.

"Hey Sasuke, want to get some ramen with me?"

"Is that all you eat?" He replies playfully, instead of his usual cold reply.

"No not all the time, but tomorrow is the start of the chuunin exams. We should celebrate with a good meal and then get a good night's rest." _It looks like he hasn't been eating well lately. He looks a little thin and paler than usual._ "What do you say?"

"Sure." Together the two young shinobi share a bowl of ramen, discussing the upcoming chuunin exams. After their bowls were empty and their stomachs full, the two pay and prepare to part ways. "Good night Sasuke, see you tomorrow!" But instead of replying with words, the young raven haired shinobi closes the gap between them once again and lightly kisses Layelle's lips. This time, instead of standing there dumbfounded, she kisses him back. Unaware that their futures are plagued with blood and heartache, unaware of the yellow eyes watching them from the shadows.

**Okay! Only one more chapter and then I feel like it will be ready for the time jump! Thanks to everyone who reads this and I will have the next chapter up soon! Thanks again! Let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Yeah I know these are annoying, but are a necessary evil. I DO NOT own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden. If I did, well then I wouldn't be writing fanfiction ^_^ **

**Note: From here I am going to be relying less on the actual proceedings of the chuunin exams, but essentially the same things will happen that happened in the original. **

**Chapter 5**

**火**

The following morning, all of the exam participants are gathered into a large room. Shinobi from all of the great villages talk amongst themselves and size up their competition. Though there are many familiar faces stand out from the crowd like Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Hinata, Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee, a.k.a busy brows. But one particular silver-haired shinobi with glasses, also wearing the leaf headband as taken an interest in team seven.

"Hi there, my name is Kabuto. I haven't seen you guys around here before. First timers?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Layelle, that's Sakura and over there is Sasuke," Layelle replies politely as she introduces her teammates. "What do you mean first timers?"

"Well most people here are retakes. This is my fourth time retaking the chuunin exams. Most people don't pass their first few times around."

"That's depressing, a real morale booster," Sakura adds in.

"Well anyway, good luck!" he says walking away. _You're going to need it Sasuke Uchiha._

"Alright listen up you whelps!" a deep and sinister voice calls out from the front of the room, everyone quickly becoming silent. "My name is Ibiki Morino, and I will be proctoring the first phase of the chuunin selection exams. To any of you who are having second thoughts, this is your last chance to back out. Any takers?" He pauses for a moment. "Okay, let's get this started. If everyone will follow me in a line and then you'll get further instructions once we enter the testing room."

Everyone in the room lines up, teams and villages sticking together, after the line had been formed, with team seven near the back, the line begins to move. Soon they are led into a large room filled with desks and chairs. Sasuke is instructed to sit near the front, Sakura in the middle and Layelle in a row of desks near the back.

"You will have two hours to complete the test. If you are caught cheating, you and your team will fail and be escorted off the premises. In order for your team to pass, every team member must score a ninety percent or better. If even one team member scores less than that, the whole team will fail, and will be escorted off the premises. Is that understood?"

"Hai!" Once the exams were all passed out, the timer began. At the end of each row on both sides, high ranking shinobi sit with clipboards, watching the chuunin hopefuls like hawks.

_These questions are almost impossible to answer! Only a genius like Shikamaru would have no problem answering them. But I have to pass! I can't let my team—_"

"FAIL!" one of the shinobi at the ends of the rows yells out. "Akiro Takahashi and team fail. Please leave the room immediately.

"You stupid idiot!" an enraged man stands up and yells at his teammate that got caught. With the help of two shinobi, the team is escorted out.

_Sakura is smart, she is good at these problems. Sasuke has his sharingan. No doubt he is using it to help him. It seems like the whole point of this exam is to cheat. The person in front of me seems to be doing okay, I'll copy off him. Okay, deep breath, feel the vibrations, concentrate._ A deep breath escapes Layelle's mouth, grabbing the attention of the shinobi at the end of her row, who quickly goes back to writing things down on his clipboard. _Got it! _Throughout the course of the exam, ten teams have been caught cheating and escorted out of the room, and soon their time was up.

"Pencils down!" Ibiki, their proctor yells to the remaining teams. "Row by row you will bring up your exams to be scored. Front row you're fist!" And row by row people go up, six more teams eliminated by the time the last row is called.

"Layelle Uzumaki, you pass with a hundred percent. You are dismissed. Meet with your team and the others that passed in the next room."

"Congratulations on passing," Kabuto says as he walks up to the now reunited team seven.

"Thanks, same to you." Sakura replies back ecstatic.

"But this next challenge is going to be much harder. That was just child's play. Good luck!" and he walks away.

"Listen up whelps! You have passed this first stage of the chuunin selection exams. This is where I leave you…"

"And this is where I take over!" A woman wearing a fishnet top and shorts covered by a tan trench coat and brown skirt yells out. "Form a line and follow me!" Everyone once again forms a line and follows the loud woman to an ancient looking forest surrounded by an enormous chain-link fence.

"My name is Anko and this is the second stage of the chuunin selection exams. For this stage your survival skills will be tested. Each squad will enter at ten minute intervals. Your objective, to fend off enemy squads and collect either a Heaven or Earth scroll. Each team will be given one upon entering. Find an enemy squad with the opposite scroll engage in battle and take their scroll. Half of the remaining teams will be eliminated, and I will warn you, some of you will not make it. Whether it be because of the enemy or the forest itself, some of you will die here. You have four days to complete your objectives. Now let's begin!"

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, squad seven is allowed to enter. _We have an earth scroll, okay let's do this!_ Upon entering the team runs off deep into the forest. Once deep enough the team stops to strategize.

"What should we do?" Sakura whispers.

"We need to find a heaven scroll. I don't know how big this forest is but we should keep moving," Sasuke says calmly in his usual icy tone.

"Let me try something. You guys watch my back."

"Right!"

_I've never tried this on such a large scale before, but it might help us to at least find another squad. It sounds better than nothing._ Crouching down with her eyes closed, Layelle begins to meditate while her two teammates keep watch. _I can feel so much life! There are bugs, birds and other animals living in here. But I need humans, not animals…_

"Layelle are you almost done?" Sasuke questions.

_Almost, found you!_ "There is a team six kilometers to the north, another one sixteen kilometers east of us, and a third group twenty four kilometers south west."

"Wow, Layelle that's amazing! How did you do that?" Sakura asks, obviously amazed at her teammates ability.

"It's a secret. So let's get moving." _Something doesn't seem right. I felt an evil presence out there, somewhere._

**火**

_ That's right Sasuke Uchiha the time for playing shinobi is almost up. Soon you will be mine. Run while you can!_ A pair of yellow snake eyes peers out from the canopy, watching its prey.

**火**

"We're right on them. Sakura you attack from the north, Layelle from the south west, and I'll cut off their escape from the south east, and when I give the signal we'll attack. Got it?"

"Hai! Let's get their scroll!"

As discussed earlier Layelle hides in the canopy, in position waiting for Sasuke to give the signal. _They look much older than us, but they look weak. Not even three hours into the exam and their taking a break, I mean they couldn't have picked a more exposed place. Easy prey!_ The sound of a distant bird call snaps Layelle back into reality. _That's the signal!_

Like a hawk zeroing in on its prey, all three shinobi make their move. Not wanting to make too much nose and alert any nearby teams, the battle ends quickly. _That was too easy! And they call themselves shinobi!_

"Give us your scroll," Sasuke demands, his voice cold and lifeless. _That's Sasuke for you, he's in battle mode._

"He—here take it." The defeated shinobi says offering up his scroll.

"Bleh, how unlucky for us, but lucky for you I guess. We need a heaven scroll not another earth scroll. Come on guys let's go." Swiftly and silently the three depart, leaving their victims hanging their heads in defeat.

"Where was the next closest group at?"

"To the east, about sixteen kilometers. We can reach them in a couple of minutes."

"Right let's go!"

Soon the team is upon their next victims. _Whatever she did, Layelle really helped us a lot. It could have taken us hours to find the previous group and even longer to find this next one. Too bad she can't tell which scroll they have,_ Sasuke thinks to himself as he jumps from branch to branch.

"Same plan as before?"

"Yeah, but these guys look tougher than before. Those last guys were wimps."

_He's right they do seem much stronger than the last ones. I know Sasuke and I will be okay, but I'm worried about Sakura. She's strong but I'm not sure she's at their level yet. _

Suddenly, Sasuke stops dead in his tracks. "What's wrong Sasuke?" Sakura asks concerned.

"Be quiet, there is somebody already here."

_He's right. I feel an evil presence up ahead, but not the same one as I felt earlier. This could be bad…_

In perfect silence, the three sit and watch the scene unfolding in front of their eyes, three shinobi from the hidden waterfall village surrounded by three hidden sand shinobi. The waterfall ninja completely helpless and at the mercy of their captures.

"Give us your scroll," a lifeless and monotone voice demands.

"Like hell we'll give it to you without a fight. Come on guys!" The three waterfall shinobi run head on to attack their rivals.

"You're making me angry," the wind shinobi raises his hand and sand from a gourd from his back comes to life, surrounding the nearest waterfall shinobi and encasing him in sand. "Sand burial!" He clenches his fist and the trapped shinobi is reduced to blood and sand.

_This guy is unreal! He just killed the other one without a second thought. There is something fishy about this guy. I don't even think Sasuke is a match for this one._

"Gaara, that's enough!" A blonde shinobi with four pigtails, wearing a short white kimono with a red sash and a fishnet halter top. "Just get the scroll and let's go."

"Tamari is right," their third companion with a baggy black full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front, a black hood covering his head with cat-like ears, his face painted with purple markings. Ignoring his two comrades, the red-haired shinobi with a tattoo over his left eye, raises his hand, the sand at his command quickly surrounding the second waterfall shinobi. "Gaara, stop!" But it was too late, the poor soul was nothing more than a pile of blood and sand.

Out of the corner of her eye, Layelle sees Sakura's hand shoot up to her mouth. _This guy is insane, we need to get out of here or we'll be next!_ Looking over to Sasuke, Layelle sees a strange look in his eye. _What's he thinking? Surely he doesn't think that he can take that lunatic on?_ Suddenly, the sound of the third waterfall shinobi being killed brings Layelle out of her stupor. This time, Sakura screams, her scream causing birds to take flight. The three sand shinobi stopping in their tracks. _Shit! We've got to move! _But it was too late. A finger-like projection of sand wraps itself around Sakura's foot and drags her out of the trees.

"What have we here? A little bird spying on us." The blonde sand shinobi says, venom dripping from her words. "Your teammates better show themselves, or else you'll be the next to die." Right on cue, Layelle and Sasuke reveal themselves, landing on the ground several feet from their attackers, Sakura lying helpless in between the two teams. "What scroll do you have?"

"We have no interest in fighting you, let us go." Layelle demands. _These guys are no match for us, we've got to get out of here or we'll end up like their previous opponents. As long as nobody does anything stupid…_ Suddenly Sakura throws a kunai, only to be easily deflected by the blonde-haired shinobi. Faster than humanly possible, the one called Tamari throws a kunai, sinking it deep into Sakura's leg, causing her to scream in pain. Instinctively, Layelle draws a kunai of her own and throws it at the sand surrounding Sakura's foot. It hits true, releasing her from the stuff. Sasuke quickly appears next to Sakura and removes her from harm's way, leaving Layelle to face the three alone.

_Okay, you can do this Layelle. Be smart, the blonde is fast and has good aim. The cat-eared guy hasn't done anything yet. Have to be careful around him. And the other one, he just creeps me out, but he is strong and dangerous. The smart thing would be to run, but they are too fast. They'll hunt us down like animals. But if I run then maybe I can find a battlefield where the advantage is mine…_

"What are you going to do? We've got you outnumbered. You're like a little mouse backed into a corner," the one called Gaara says, his voice as heavy and cold as death.

"I'm clearly not going to stick around here with your losers. See ya!" As fast as her muscles would allow, Layelle runs off in the direction Sasuke and Sakura went. _They're not following me…that could be a good thing._ Lungs burning for air, Layelle stops to catch her breath. _I don't feel them coming, I guess I got away. Now to find the others._ Just as before, Layelle closes her eyes and concentrates, _where are—_. A feeling so terrible it takes her breath away overcomes the young shinobi. _I found them, but there's that evil presence, it's heading right for Sasuke and Sakura!_ Ignoring the fire in her lungs, Layelle heads in the direction of her comrades at break neck speed.

**火**

"Sasuke! What about Layelle?"

"She'll be fine. She's fast and can get away. We need to bandage your leg and stop the bleeding. I'm going to pull out the kunai, try not to scream." Carefully Sasuke pulls the kunai from Sakura's upper leg, only a whimper escaping her lips, and gently wraps it in bandages. "How does that feel?"

"Better, thanks."

"Aww, how sweet," a voice hisses from the trees. "Such tender care for your teammate. How out of character, my Sasuke."

"Who's there?" he yells to the trees, a kunai in his hand as he stands defensibly over Sakura. "Show yourself, you coward." Out of the shadows a figure emerges, his skin a sickly white with yellow snake eyes accented by purple paint around his upper eye, defining his nose. "Who are you?"

"I am the one you will soon come to seek aid from, the one you will soon call master," the smooth voice replies back. "But for now you may call me lord Orochimaru." Dumbfounded the two young shinobi just stare blankly at the new comer.

"Wait, I know that name. You were one of the legendary sanin, but you betrayed the village."

"That's partially right little girl. You see I didn't betray the village, the village betrayed me. Now come my Sasuke, receive my mark," Orochimaru charges at Sasuke and Sakura, but a thrown kunai stops him in his tracks.

"You're late, Layelle." Sasuke says coldly.

"Sorry. So who's this whack job?" Layelle asks as she appears next to her teammate.

"Don't know, don't care. He's alone so I think you and I can take him."

"Ahh, yes, the little fox. That was quite a good throw," all of a sudden he appears in front of Layelle, his hand wrapped around her throat. "This is going to be fun…"

"Put her down!" Sasuke yells as he sends a punch Orochimaru's way. With barely a flick of his wrist, he sends Sasuke flying into a tree, Sasuke lying still.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screams as she tries to attack Orochimaru. But he sends her flying, knocking her unconscious.

After licking the fingertips of his free hand, they begin to glow an eerie purple, "Let's have some fun, shall we?" A glare and several coughs are all Layelle can do to reply back. Slowly, Orochimaru places his glowing fingertips on her stomach as they begin to glow brighter. A blood curdling scream erupts from Layelle's throat as her eyes roll back into her head. Removing his hand from her stomach, Orochimaru drops the unconscious shinobi to the ground.

"Now, for Sasuke." Slowly he slithers over to the unconscious raven-haired boy, wraps his fingers around his neck and lifts him from the ground. With a hiss, his neck elongates and two elongated fangs appear, sinking them deep into Sasuke's neck. Sasuke screams and tries to escape, but soon falls into the depths of unconsciousness once again.

"That's enough fun for one day," he says as he drops the raven-haired boy to the ground. "Kabuto, stop hiding in the shadows and get over here, we've got more work to do."

"Yes my lord," Kabuto replies respectfully as she steps into the light. "You think he will survive?"

"I believe so, after all he is my next vessel. Let's get going." Faster than a heartbeat the two disappear into the forest.

**火**

"_It hurts, my body, it hurts. It feels so heavy. Where am I? Why is it so dark and cold? Where am I?"_

_**"Open your eyes and then you will see."**__ Slowly her eyes open, revealing a foreign landscape. Water, several inches deep, floods the floor, dimly burning torches line the wall sporadically and taking up an entire wall are two doors of iron bars, a paper marked 'seal' joining the two doors together._

_ "What is this place?"_

_**"This is your mindscape, where I have been locked away." **__A deep and terrible voice replies._

_ "Who are you?"_

_**"Step closer my dear and I will show you." **__Obediently, Layelle walks up to the two bared doors. Two eyes, their irises the color of fresh blood, appear from the shadows. __**"I am the spirit of the nine-tailed fox that has been sealed inside of you. Do you see the seal that has been placed upon my prison?"**_

___"Yes."_

_**"Remove it and I will share my power with you. Remove it and you will have more power than you could ever imagine." **__Slowly, Layelle raises her hand to peel of the seal, but a familiar voice stops her._

_"Someone is calling my name…"_

_**"Pay no need to it, remove the seal."**_

___"Sakura, she needs me."_

_**"Remove the seal!"**_

**火**

"Layelle, open your eyes! Please wake up!" Sakura yells as she lightly slaps Layelle's cheek. Slowly her eyes open.

"Sakura? What's going on? Where's Sasuke?"

"He's right over there. But there's something wrong with him. I can't get him to wake up." Slowly, Layelle stands on wobbly feet, Sakura helping to balance her. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I don't know. M— my stomach hurts so bad. I think I'm going to be—" But before she could finish, Layelle doubles over and expels the contents of her stomach.

"Layelle!"

"It's okay, I feel better now. Can you help me over to Sasuke?"

"Sure." Together the two slowly make their way over to their unconscious teammate.

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, when I woke up both you and Sasuke were unconscious."

Kneeling next to him, Layelle places her ear up to Sasuke's chest. _He's alive, looks like he's running a fever. _"Sasuke! Wake up!" Layelle yells as she slaps him across the face, the cut on her left hand leaving blood on his cheek. But his eyes remain closed. "How long have we been out?"

"I think two days, but I'm not sure."

"So that gives us about a day to get a heaven scroll and reach the center of the forest." A new wave of pain and nausea cause Layelle to gasp and grab her stomach. "Sakura, watch my back for a second."

"What are you going to do?"

"Find a team with a heaven scroll."

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Layelle closes her eyes and concentrates. But it's no good, the pain is too much. Placing her left hand on the trunk of the nearest tree, she closes her eyes to catch her breath. Suddenly, with an audible gasp her eyes open and pupils dilate so that her eyes are completely black.

"Layelle, what's wrong?" But Layelle could not hear her, because her mind is racing through the forest in every direction at incredible speed. The forest's scenery playing out before her eyes like a movie, finally stopping when a group of shinobi appear._ What's going on? What is happening? Wait…I can hear them talking!_

"I can't believe that we haven't found a single group with a freaking earth scroll. We're almost out of time!" _They have a heaven scroll, and they're not far away. I think Sakura and I can take them, they look like easy prey. But how do I get back to my body? _As if right on cue, the forest turns into one massive blur as Layelle's mind returns to her body. With another gasp, she collapses onto the ground.

"Layelle! What happened?"

"I…I don't know. But there is a group not far from here that has a heaven scroll. Can you help me carry Sasuke? I know your leg is injured but we need to get their scroll so we can pass this part of the exams."

"Yeah, I can walk. But can we take them? Without Sasuke and I know that I'm weak."

"Sakura," Layelle interrupts. "Believe in yourself. We wouldn't have gotten this far without you. I, Sasuke needs you to be strong right now so we can get through this."

"Okay!"

Together the two wounded shinobi carry their equally wounded comrade in their arms. _Sasuke, please be alright, please wake up soon. Sakura needs you, I need you. Please wake up! _Another wave of pain emanating from her stomach where Orochimaru did something to her. The pain causing her to stumble and almost drop Sasuke.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just a little pain. Come on they are close."

"What will we do with Sasuke?" Sakura asks as they come to a stop.

"I'll have a shadow clone watch over him and I'll make another one to fill in for him. Sakura, you take the one on the left, I'll take center and my shadow clone will take the guy on the far right. I don't know which one has the scroll but if you get it stop fighting and just start running. Go to my clone that's watching over Sasuke and get away."

"What if my guy doesn't have the scroll?"

"If either I or my shadow clone gets it, you'll know. Once that happens, the plan is still the same."

"Understood."

"Okay, I'll send my shadow clone in first, then me and then you. Let's get this over with as soon as possible."

"Hai!"

After creating two shadow clones, one to watch over Sasuke and one for battle, the team is ready. Silently the battle clone approaches its target and the fight begins. _I don't recognize the symbol on their headbands, but they seem weak enough._ _Sakura seems to be holding her own, even with her injured leg. She needs to have more confidence in herself. Okay, enough playing around! Let's see if this works!_

Creating the necessary hand signs, serpent, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger. "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" Just as expected, a fireball bigger than even Sasuke had ever produced, explodes from Layelle's lips and engulfs her target. _Wow! I can't believe that worked! Yeah!_ But at the sight of her opponent still alive and well causes Layelle's stomach to drop. _How did I miss? _Out of nowhere the supposedly dead shinobi appears and kicks Layelle into the nearest tree trunk, creating a crack in the majestic being.

"Layelle!" Sakura yells and is then kicked to the ground. _My body, I can't move._ Layelle's eyes close and her mind wanders in the darkness, her shadow clones disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Time for you to die, little girl," the nearest enemy shinobi says playfully as he approaches Sakura. Roughly he grabs her by the hair and pulls her to her knees. "Scream, beg for your life!"

"I will do neither!" She yells back as she takes a kunai and cuts her long pink locks off, freeing herself from the enemy shinobi's grasp. Then, mustering up the last of her strength kicks him and runs over to Sasuke. "Sasuke! Please wake up! We're in some big trouble, Layelle is in trouble. Open your eyes!" Sakura pleads, tears running down her cheeks. But the man is back, dragging her away from an unconscious Sasuke by the collar of her dress."SASUKE!"

Sasuke's eyes snap open, revealing his sharingan, fully developed. Quietly he stands up and looks around, evaluating the scene before him. His gaze coming to a stop on Layelle's all to still body. "Which one of you bastards did that?" He asks pointing to Layelle. "No takers? Fine, then I'll just kick all of your asses!"

With lightning fast speed Sasuke appears behind the one holding Sakura. He grabs him by the collar and sends him flying through three trees. He doesn't get up. "I will kill you all!" Black marks begin to form on Sasuke's skin, covering the entire left half of his body, his left eye completely black except for a yellow iris. He disappears and reappears behind the second enemy shinobi, this time a woman. Showing no mercy, he kicks her high into the air, appears next to her and kicks her to the ground with such force half her body is buried.

"Your turn," Sasuke says sinisterly.

"Please don't hurt me! I'll give you the scroll. He—here it is," the man pleads as he removes the scroll from a pouch on his belt.

"I'm not feeling very merciful today."

"Wh—what? Please!" Sasuke appears behind him and takes hold of his arms. Still holding his arms back, Sasuke puts his foot on the man's back and begins to pull. The man screams in agony as his shoulders dislocate with a resounding pop.

"Sasuke, stop!" Sakura screams in horror.

"Shut up, Sakura." He replies, his voice lifeless.

_I hear Sasuke's voice. But why does it sound different, it sounds so wrong. Sakura is screaming. What's happening?_

"Sasuke," Layelle calls out feebly. "Stop." Slowly, Layelle climbs to her feet, using the tree for support. "Take the scroll and let's get out of here," tears beginning to spill over the rims of her eyes as she wearily stumbles over to Sasuke and breaks his grip on the man's arms with the last of her strength. "Let's go."

At her touch, the markings on Sasuke's skin begin to recede, his eye returning to normal. "Layelle…" Taking advantage of the situation, the man narrowly escapes with his life. Picking up the scroll and tucking it into his leg pouch, Sasuke and Sakura half carry, half drag their unconscious teammate to the finishing point.

**WOW! Okay first off I want to apologize for it taking me so long to get this updated. I was on vacation and then got sick…I mean seriously who gets sick when its nearly 100 degrees outside. Second, sorry for this being so long. I could have kept going but I didn't want it to be too long. Third, I don't think the time skip is going to happen in the next chapter like I had hoped, but it will come soon! As soon as I post this chapter I will start writing the next. **

**Thanks to all who reviewed, I really appreciate it! Thanks for being such wonderful people!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is chapter 6! Please enjoy and remember keep reviewing! **

**DISCLAIMER: Again I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden or anything related to the two.**

**Chapter 6**

**火**

"Congratulations on passing the second leg of the chuunin exams," the Hokage proclaims to the twenty people who stand before him in rows. "But too many of you have made it past the second round. In order to reduce your numbers by half there will be a preliminary round where two of you will be pitted against one another. The ten who pass will move onto the third and final round. Is that understood?"

"Hai!" Everyone responds.

"You will be given an hour to catch your breath and tend to your wounds. Remember in the preliminary and the final round, you might be facing one of your fellow teammates. Your hour starts now!"

Medical shinobi take the seriously wounded to the back, including the unconscious Layelle. But before Sasuke could be taken away Kakashi ushers him to a different room.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on?"

"Sasuke, I'm afraid that you are going to have to withdraw from the chuunin exams."

"What! Why?"

"Because of what happened in the forest, that mark on your neck, you are a danger to yourself and the other participants."

"Mark?" Slowly Sasuke removes his ripped shirt and stands in front of the mirror. His eyes open wide in shock at the sight. "What is that?"

"It is from Orochimaru. It is his cursed seal of heaven mark. The curse will attempt to eat away at your mind."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Because Anko, the woman you met earlier carries the same burden that you do."

"Then how is she still here?"

"Because the curse was sealed so that it would not harm her and she is able to live a relatively normal life."

"Can you do the same for me?" Desperation heavy in his voice.

"Yes yours can also be sealed, but there is a catch."

"Of course there is."

"The catch is, the seal will only work unless you wish it to. I will not lie to you Sasuke. The curse holds great power, so great it will drive most people into madness. The seal will only work if you will that power to be sealed away and to not use it. If you chose to use that power then the seal will break and we will have no choice but to kill you. It is a heavy burden for someone your age to bear, but it is your only choice."

"I see. Seal it." A cold and adamant determination in his voice.

"I will start the ritual. Then afterwards you can participate in the exam."

**火**

**Flashback**

"Look everyone! It's that weird girl with no parents!" A small boy around the age of five yells out, pointing at a small frail girl with white hair sitting on a lone swing under an ancient tree.

"She's a demon!" Another yells out, throwing a rock at the girl, the rock hitting her on the shin, a tear escaping her brilliant blue eye. Several more boys pick up small rocks and begin throwing them, but come up short.

"Aww, look she's crying. I guess demons can cry after all. Why don't you go to your mommy," the first boy taunts. "Oh wait! I forgot you don't have one!" the group of boys starts laughing and walks off. Fresh blood running down the girl's leg from where the rock struck.

"Are you okay?" A small voice asks. The girl looks up to see a small boy with spiky raven black hair and onyx eyes. The girl sniffs and nods her head. "Your leg is hurt, come with me, my mom will make it better," the boy says, as he holds out his hand, but the girl just sits there. "It's okay, you're safe now. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. What's yours?"

"L—Layelle Uzumaki." The girl barely whispers.

"Come on Layelle. Let's get your leg all better. I promise I won't let anyone ever hurt you again."

"Sasuke dear, who is this?" A beautiful woman with raven black hair and onyx eyes asks kindly.

"She's my friend. Mommy her leg is hurt, will you make it all better?"

"Oh my. What's your name?" A smile on her face, but the girl hides behind Sasuke. "I won't hurt you little one. My name is Mikoto, I'm Sasuke's mother. Would you please let me look at your leg?"

"Layelle," she squeaks as she steps out from behind her new friend. "That is my name."

"What a beautiful name. Come with me to the kitchen and I'll get your leg cleaned up, okay?"

"There all better!" Sasuke's mom exclaims. "Now you two, I have a problem. Could you two help me out?"

"Okay."

"S—sure."

"I seemed to have baked too many cookies and made too much lemonade. Would you two like to help me out?"

"Layelle, would you like some cookies and lemonade? My mom's cookies are the best!"

"Okay." Together the three eat cookies, drink lemonade and tell stories, a small smile working its way into Layelle's mouth.

"Bye Layelle, come back anytime." Mikoto says as she hugs the small girl. "Sasuke, why don't you be a dear and walk Layelle home. I'll get your brother to go with you. Wait here."

"Yeah! My brother is the best, you have to meet him."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah he's a lot older than me but he's cool. His name is Itatchi."

**End Flashback**

"Layelle, are you okay?" a concerned and teary eyed Sakura asks. Slowly, her brilliant blue eyes open, blinking away the blurriness.

"I'm okay. Where's Sasuke!" She asks sitting up too fast, causing her head to spin.

"He's okay. Kakashi-sensei is treating his wounds. Layelle the hokage said that too many of us passed the second round. They are going to pair us up and whoever wins the skirmish gets to move on to the final round. Can you fight?"

"Yeah I'll be fine."

"Good because they are getting ready to pair us up. I'll help you get back to where we are supposed to be."

"I'm fine, I can walk."

**火**

"Your hour is up, everyone please gather round, the pairings will be decided randomly through the use of a computer. The first pair is…Shino Aburame against Zaku Abumi. Round two, Sasuke Uchiha against Akado Yoroi…Round eight Sakura Haruno against Ino Yamanaka. Round nine, Layelle Uzumaki against Kiba Inuzuka. And finally round ten, Gaara against Rock Lee. The pairings have been decided. Everyone clear the floor except for those participating in round one. Let the match begin!"

Round one begins and ends after about ten minutes, Shino easily winning over his opponent. Once the area had been cleaned and returned to its original state through the use of a jutsu, round two could begin. Sasuke and his opponent Akado Yoroi take the floor.

_Sasuke doesn't look so good. He is paler than usual. What's that weird looking mark on his neck? I've never noticed that before. What could it be?_ Before Layelle could give it much thought the round was over, Sasuke being the victor. But before Layelle could congratulate Sasuke on his victory, Kakashi again sweeps him away.

The next six rounds go by relatively quick, Layelle not giving them much attention. But next up is Sakura and Ino. _This is going to be an interesting match. _A quiet chuckle escapes her throat. _Interesting indeed. _

Both kunoichi give it their all, and after twenty minutes of fighting, both are breathing heavily and barely still standing. The wound on Sakura's leg bleeding again. The two step to make a move but before either could get very far, both collapse simultaneously unconscious on the floor. _What! What happens now?_ Medical shinobi rush out onto the floor and collect the two fallen kunoichi.

The hokage takes the floor, "since both were deemed unconscious, both fail to pass the preliminary round. They will not be moving onto the third and final round. Will the next two please step out onto the floor?"

_My turn, finally. I don't know much about Kiba, other than him and Akamaru work as a pair, making this especially tricky. Find a weakness, and then defeat him! _Kiba and Akamaru charge as one towards the still thinking Layelle, but she easily dodges their attack.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba yells and Akamaru takes on Kiba's form. Together the two attack in perfect unison, backing Layelle into a corner. _I can't find a weakness! Wait! Akamaru is a dog,_ once again a chuckle escapes Layelle's throat. "What's so funny? The way I see it you should be worrying more about what you're going to do to escape. Come one Akamaru one more time…Fang over fang!"

"We'll be having none of that." Layelle laughs confidently. Layelle inhales deeply and places her index finger and thumb up to her lips. Mustering up all of her breath, she blows it out between her two fingers, creating a soundless whistle. Both Akamaru and Kiba stop dead in their tracks, trying to cover their ears and block out the terrible sound. Not being able to take it anymore, both pass out, blood trickling from their ears.

"Round nine winner, Layelle Uzumaki. Round ten begin!" Back on the balcony overlooking the arena, Layelle watches the next match between Rock Lee and that mentally insane boy from earlier._ Lee doesn't stand a chance. That guy will crush him. Thankfully none of us had to fight him, especially Sakura. He would have killed her._ A huge explosion brings her attention back to the fight.

Several craters and broken floor tiles liter the floor of the arena, Rock Lee standing in one of the craters panting and covered with scratches while is opponent Gaara stands there completely un phased without a scratch on him.

"You're finished," Gaara's dead voice echoes off the walls. "Accept your defeat."

"Never! I will never be defeated as long as I have the power of youth within me!"

"If you insist." The emotionless shinobi says with his dead voice as he raises his hand into the air causing sand to begin to leak out of the gourd on his back. The sand quickly makes its way across the battle shaped floor. Without warning, a scream sounds from Rock Lee as the sand envelopes his leg and crushes it. Rock Lee falling to the floor.

"So ends the preliminary rounds. Gaara of the hidden sand village is the victor of round ten. The final round pairings will now be decided." A screen like before is unveiled as the finalists, minus Sasuke, await the final pairings.

"Round one, Shino Aburame against Kankurou of the hidden sand village. Round two, Shikamaru Nara against Temari of the hidden sand village. Round three, Layelle Uzumaki against Neji Hyuuga. Finally round four, Sasuke Uchiha against Gaara of the hidden sand village. Because of the draw between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, there will only be four rounds in the tournament. You will have one month to prepare for the next stage seeing how everyone here has seen you fight and knows your techniques. Acquire new techniques and new jutsu. You are dismissed."

Those injured from their fights are taken to the hospital, the rest disperse and begin their preparations for the next stage of the chuunin exams.

**One Week Later**

"Layelle, are you and Sasuke meeting up with sensei later now that you're both out of the hospital?"

"Yeah, but I don't see how he is going to train both me and Sasuke seeing how we could eventually be facing each other in the finals."

"I'm sure you will work something out. Just you two do your best! See you later!"

"Where are you going?"

"Back to the hospital, sensei suggested that I look into medical jutsu so I thought that I would check it out."

"Oh, okay. Good luck then!"

**火**

Deep in thought, Layelle sits down on her usual spot on the bridge overlooking the river, not noticing the raven-haired boy lying in the grass on the river bank.

"Layelle, congratulations defeating Kiba and Akamaru," but still deep in thought, Layelle doesn't hear him. "Layelle!" he yells this time, throwing a pebble against the side of the bridge to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh Sasuke, when did you get here?"

"I was already here when you showed up. What's wrong, you look troubled?" he says as he takes a seat next to Layelle.

"Sasuke, what happened in the forest? Who was that guy that attacked us? What is that mark on your neck?"

"Oh, it's nothing," his hand shoots up to his neck, covering the curse mark.

"You know you can tell me anything…When I was unconscious before the preliminaries, I had a dream about the first time we met."

"Good morning you two!" Kakashi exclaims as he appears with a puff of smoke. "Umm, did I interrupt something?"

"No, its fine sensei," Sasuke retorts.

"Good. So down to business, first off I want to congratulate you both for making it this far. It is no small feat. Now there is the issue about your training. I can't train both of you because if you pass the first round of the final stage you could both end up fighting one another. So if you train together then you will know each other's jutsu."

"So what's going to happen then?" Layelle asks curiously.

"I will train Sasuke and another fellow shinobi will train you Layelle."

"And who would that be?"

"His name is master Jiraiya and he is one of the legendary sannin. He will meet you here in a couple of hours. Sasuke, you and I will go on and start your training. Understood?"

"Yes sensei," the two young shinobi answer in unison."

The two soon take their leave, leaving Layelle alone with her thoughts. _I wonder what this master Jiraiya will be like. Surely he will be strong seeing how he is sannin level. I wish he would get here soon though._

A couple of hours later, just as Kakashi had said, a man with waist-length, spiky white hair tied into a pony tail with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face stands at the mouth of the bridge. Red lines running from his eyes decorate his face, along with a headband with the kanji for oil painted on it.

"Layelle Uzumaki I presume."

"Yes. Are you master Jiraiya?"

"Correct. Shall we begin your training?"

"Okay. How should we start?"

"I got permission from the hokage for you to temporarily leave the village to train. There are too many people here. I think we should go somewhere else less crowded. What do you say?"

"What are we waiting for?" A grin spreading across her face.

With their bags packed, they both walk out of the front gates.

**火**

"Okay, you need to learn some new moves for the next round. Neji Hyuuga is a formidable opponent. Where you stand now, you don't have a chance of beating him. He has a nasty visual kekkei genkai that can see through anything."

"Like Sasuke's sharingan?"

"Not exactly. He can see the flow of chakra in your body and every living thing surrounding him. He can see three hundred and sixty degrees for miles."

"How do I beat something like that?"

"You become invisible."

"Invisible? Ha! That's impossible."

"I've been observing you. That little trick of yours is mighty impressive. How you feel and listen to the vibrations that things make around you. How you can sense a person coming from several meters away just by the vibrations their beating heart makes."

"How do you know that?" Surprise thick in the young girl's voice.

"Like I said I've been observing you."

"Whatever, just how am I supposed to become invisible?"

"Patience. I'm going to go hide somewhere and I want you to find me using that little trick of yours. Understand?" Layelle nods her head. _This will be easy._ Just as she had done so many times, Layelle sits on the ground and begins to meditate. Her breathing steady and slow. But as the minutes pass by, her forehead creases in frustration. _I can't find him, this has never failed before! What's going on?_

"Give up yet?" Ignoring the old man, Layelle concentrates harder, sending her mind out farther and deeper into the earth. _Where is he! Where is that old bastard!_ "Layelle! Stop!" Master Jiraiya appears in front of the meditating girl, shaking her shoulders. Something wet on her face brings her back to reality. But before she could think on it, the world goes black.

"You awake yet?" Jiraiya asks concerned.

"Yeah," Layelle replies sitting up, holding her head between her hands. "What happened?"

"You passed out from concentrating too hard. You were concentrating so hard your nose started to bleed."

"Why couldn't I find you?"

"It's simple really. You see all you've got to do is…" Jiraiya leans in close whispering into her ear, her eyes opening wide and a grin on her face.

"I understand. So that will keep Neji in the dark?"

"Yes and with his byakugan immobilized you will have a chance."

"Alright, let's start practicing!" Layelle jumps to her feet, her fist in the air.

"Not so fast. That's not the only thing I'm going to teach you. Just because he won't be able to use his byakugan doesn't render him helpless. You're going to need to learn some new jutsu."

"What kind of jutsu?"

"Sit down and we'll begin."

**火**

"Welcome to the first round of the third stage of the chuunin selection exams. The first match up is Shino Aburame against Kankurou of the hidden sand village," the hokage announces while standing on a pavilion overlooking the arena. "Would the first two participants enter the arena? When the signal is given, begin!"

Both Shino and Kankurou step out from their tunnels, shake hands and then separate again. The sound of a cannon firing causes a loud eruption of cheering from the audience surrounding the arena. Both shinobi disappear from site as the match begins.

The match seems to last forever, the remaining participants forced to wait in a windowless room with no news of the current fight, all except Sasuke.

"Hey, Shikamaru."

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Sasuke? I mean shouldn't he be waiting here with us?"

"Sorry Layelle, I haven't seen him. Maybe he's doing some last minute preparations for his match."

"Thanks. Good luck!"

"You too." The sound of cheering brings everyone to attention. A small knock on the door causes everyone to stand. "Round two will be beginning shortly, Shikamaru Nara and Temari of the hidden sand village, please follow me."

"Who won the last round?"

"Shino Aburame did. Now follow me." _Way to go Shino! You're one creepy person but I'm glad you got to move on to the next round. I'll be next after Shikamaru. Okay, slow deep breaths. Remember what master Jiraiya taught you. You can do this!_

Another knock at the door brings Layelle out of her meditation state. "Round two is over, round three participants Layelle Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga, please follow me."

"Wait, it's over already? Who won?"

"It has been thirty minutes since I last came for the previous two. Temari of the hidden sand village won after Shikamaru withdrew. Now please follow me." _Shikamaru lost? I thought for sure that he would win._ After walking through a long, dark tunnel, Layelle emerges into the bright sunlight. The roar of the crowd deafening, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she shakes Neji's hand and separates from him. The sound of a cannon sends her stomach into her throat, and in the blink of an eye both disappear.

_Close your eyes, control your breathing, and then wrap my chakra around my body. Make it light as air, transparent, become one with the wind, invisible, weightless but as strong as steel. Now, open your eyes, only one way to see if it worked._

Her eyes snap open, a deadly determination reflecting in them. Slowly and carefully she positions herself into a crouch and approaches her hidden prey, like a cat hunting a mouse. _I can't see him clearly. Surely he has his byakugan engaged. I need to get closer._ _Let's do this!_ Now only a couple meters away, she can see, his byakugan searching for her. _Seems to be working, I just can't lose my concentration. _

Feeling confident, Layelle jumps out of her hiding spot and charges Neji head on, but reacting quickly, he throws a well aimed punch that sends Layelle flying, only to disappear with a puff of smoke. Several gasps can be heard coming from the audience. Again two more shadow clones jump out from the bushes and trees, they too are quickly defeated. _Almost time. Just a few more clones._

This time six clones appear out of thin air, charging towards their enemy from every direction, but suddenly a hand appears from the ground and wraps itself around Neji's leg. The hand quickly pulls the shocked Neji deep into the ground, only his head sticking out, and the shadow clones disappear with a puff of smoke. _Thanks Kakashi-sensei, I owe you one!_

"The match is over!" The hokage exclaims, rising from his seat on the pavilion. "Layelle Uzumaki is the victor and will move onto the second round. Please clear the arena so the next match can begin!"

"Amazing!"

"Not even a scratch on her!"

"How did she defeat the byakugan?" Several voices call out from the audience, causing the young victor to smile. _You haven't seen anything. Child's play._

Upon reentering the tunnel, a loud voice yells out. "Congratulations Layelle! You did it!"

"Thanks Sakura. But its Sasuke's turn and I haven't seen yet. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah I saw him being led down a different tunnel. But he had this look in his eye. I don't know how to explain it. He seems different for some reason." The sound of cannon fire stops her next words.

"Come on, it's starting. Let's go grab a seat and cheer him on!"

By the time they find somewhere to sit, the match had already begun. Craters, fallen trees and large boulders now dominate the landscape, with Sasuke nowhere to be seen, Gaara standing out in the open in the middle of the arena, not a scratch on him. _This doesn't look very good! Come on Sasuke you can do it! _

Out of nowhere Sasuke appears several feet above the seemingly unsuspecting Gaara, with what looks like lightning in his hand. _Sensei taught him the chidori? Nice! Way to go Sasuke!_ But the attack fails. A sand barrier quickly forms between Sasuke's chidori and Gaara. Simultaneously a sand tentacle grabs Sasuke by the leg and slams him into the ground with such force a new crater forms.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yells from the audience. Sasuke quickly gets back up, wiping away fresh blood from his mouth. He attempts several more sneak attacks, combining them with his signature fireball jutsu and chidori. But they all fail, Gaara quickly beats them down, throwing him again to the ground, only this time he doesn't get up.

"Sasuke!" This time it's Layelle yelling. "Get up you idiot!" _Please get up, please!_ Suddenly the wind changes, the atmosphere becoming heavy, making it hard to breath. Black clouds rapidly form, blocking out the sun, lightning flashing and thunder echoing off the arena walls. _What's going on? It is hard to breathe!_

Ever so slowly, Sasuke stands up, his shoulders slumped and his hair blocking the top half of his face, a dark purple aura surrounding him.

**火**

_It's time, Sasuke Uchiha. The time for playing these childish games is over. I will make you mine!_

**火**

Suddenly an explosion rocks the entire arena, smoke consuming the pavilion that seats all the great hidden village's leaders. Screams from the audience overpower the sound of thunder as people run to the nearest escape route. High level ranking shinobi abandon their posts and rush to the aid of their leaders, all the while Sasuke remains still, the purple aura growing.

"Sakura, I'm going to go check on Sasuke!"

"I'm coming too!"

Together the two push their way through the panicked crowd, finally reaching the ledge of the steep wall that separates the audience from the arena. Carefully they leap down onto the arena floor and rush over to Sasuke, Gaara nowhere to be seen.

"Sasuke! Are you alright?" Layelle yells as she runs over to her teammate, but is stopped dead in her tracks when he lifts his head. Black marks cover his entire body, both of his eyes completely black with a yellow iris. An audible gasp escapes Layelle's lips. "Sasuke? Is that you?"

"Layelle, this is what happened in the forest after that guy did something to Sasuke."

"Sasuke! What's wrong with you?" Layelle closes the gap between them, raising her hands to shake him, but his own hands grasp hers, squeezing them so tightly causing Layelle to yell out in pain.

"Sasuke, you're hurting her!" Sakura yells as she tries to break his old on Layelle's wrists. She manages to free Layelle's right hand, but a sickening crack and a blood curdling scream stops her dead.

"You're annoying," a cold lifeless voice sounds out. "So annoying, so weak, so pathetic," with his newly freed hand, Sasuke sends Sakura flying. Turning his attention back to Layelle, a sadistic smile spreads across his face.

"Sasuke, what is wrong with you! Stop this right now!" Layelle pleads, grimacing in pain from her broken wrist.

"You're so weak it's pathetic. Your life has been so easy. Never knowing the pain of losing someone close to you, of having something precious taken away, you're pathetic."

"Sasuke, what are you talking about?" tears glassing over Layelle's eyes. "I thought you were my friend…"

"I could never be friends with someone like you. You're nothing but a stupid, pathetic little cry baby, just like Sakura."

**火**

"You've lost the game, old man." Bodies of fallen shinobi and civilians lie strewn across the pavilion, those still alive long gone, only two remain.

"I as hokage will defend this village from any threats, which includes you Orochimaru. I will send your soul to hell."

"Hmm, I'd like to see you try." His long snake-like tongue licking his lips.

**火**

"Sasuke, what has happened to you?"

"I've finally realized that as long as I stay here, I will never be able to defeat my brother. This place is holding me back. If I can't even defeat that Gaara guy, how can I ever hope to defeat my brother? All these pathetic excuses for shinobi are holding me back, especially you." Effortlessly, Sasuke draws a kunai from his belt pouch in one fluid motion while still holding Layelle's broken wrist in a death grip. "Time for you to know the same pain I have known."

"That is enough!" A smooth, snake-like voice interrupts, the newcomer placing his hand on Sasuke's head, slightly ruffling his hair and grabbing the kunai. "My Sasuke, you are correct, this place is holding you back. Come with me and I will give you all the power you desire. I will make you strong enough to finally defeat Itachi. But at a price of course," Orochimaru chuckles.

"And what would that be?"

"You're body."

"Sasuke, don't listen to him! He's just trying to trick you. I read something about him, he's a deserter. He abandoned the village and murdered hundreds of people. Please let's just go."

"Stupid girl. Sasuke already told you what he thought of you, so why would he listen to you. Why do you still care about what happens to him?"

"Because I…I love him."

"You're even more pathetic than I thought. How could I ever have feelings for someone as weak as you?" Finally releasing his grip, Layelle falls onto her knees, tears streaming down her pale face. "Orochimaru."

"Yes?"

"You will give me the power to defeat Itachi and in return you want my body. But why do you want it?"

"I need it to survive. But that doesn't matter, because this is the only way you will ever become strong enough to finally get revenge."

"Sasuke, don't listen! Please!"

"Fine, but if you double cross me, I will kill you."

"Then we understand one another. Come Sasuke Uchiha, let us leave this place." Placing his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, both he and Orochimaru disappear right before Layelle's eyes.

"Sa…Sasuke" Layelle barely whispers before everything goes black.

**Hurray! Another chapter completed. I have already begun writing the next chapter so I know for sure, 100% that the time jump will happen as will more of my own storyline begin. Things are about to get interesting!**

**Thanks again for reading my story and giving reviews! Will have the next chapter up hopefully by tomorrow afternoon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: I do not in any way own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden…..even though I wish I did…haha!**

**Here is chapter 7. I have been waiting to write this chapter for a long time because I've got a feeling that things are going to start becoming more interesting. What will Layelle do now that Sasuke has broken her heart? How dramatically will she change?**

**Chapter 7**

**火**

"_I promise I won't let anyone ever hurt you again." Did you also mean yourself Sasuke? Because if you did, you lied. My heart, it hurts, it's so heavy. _

"_**That's what happens when you become weak and let your guard down. Love, such a weak emotion, it only leads to heartache, such a useless emotion."**_

"_What would you know about love, you're nothing but an animal?"_

"_**Do you want to become stronger? Strong enough for that stupid boy to acknowledge you?"**_

"_I…I don't know."_

"_**What do you mean, 'I don't know.' Only a weak person answers with something as pathetic as that. Try again. Do you want to become stronger? Strong enough to make everyone who mocked you, everyone who hurt you kneel before you? Strong enough for that boy to acknowledge you? Remember how they would hurt you, throw rocks at you, and call you names? Remember those moments, remember how you felt. Let that hatred turn your blood into fire and give you power."**_

"_But hatred and vengeance is what made Sasuke turn against us and join with Orochimaru."_

"_**Yes it did. But if you work under my tutelage then I can teach you how to use that hatred and anger you feel and turn it into power. I will make you stronger than Sasuke could ever become. Throw away the rest of your emotions, and I will show you true power. Orochimaru might be a legendary sannin, but I am the nine-tailed fox. I have lived for eons. I have seen the rise and fall of empires. To me he is only a child that needs to be punished. Accept me and I will make you invincible."**_

"_I accept. Make me strong enough for Sasuke to acknowledge me."_

"_**Very good. The next time we speak, your training will begin." **__An evil laugh echoes off the stone walls inside of Layelle's mindscape._

**火**

Layelle's eyes open, blinking furiously against the bright sunlight, the sound of birds chirping leak through the open window, a warm breeze causing the leaves to rustle on the nearest tree. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital."

"The hospital…Sensei!" Layelle shoots up from her bed but the pain in her wrist and a weakness in her limbs cause her to collapse again.

"Steady there," Kakashi replies, helping Layelle sit up again, more slowly this time. "You've been unconscious for three days, take it easy."

"Sasuke! Sakura!"

"Sakura is doing fine she just has a little bump on her head. As for Sasuke, well you see…"

"Sasuke is gone, isn't he?"

"I'm afraid so. And there's something else. The hokage is dead, killed by Orochimaru."

"What! No, that's impossible!"

"Not as impossible as you think. His funeral was yesterday. Also the chuunin exams have been cancelled. But on a lighter note Shikamaru was promoted to chuunin because of the excellent tactics he showed during his fight."

"Th—that's good," a fake smile on her lips.

"Layelle there is something we need to talk about. It's about Sasuke." Layelle nods her head. "I fear that he is lost to us. Orochimaru cursed him, promised him power so that he can get his revenge on his older brother. In return Sasuke will give him his body."

"Why does Orochimaru need Sasuke's body?"

"Orochimaru is a sick and sadistic man…no I wouldn't call him a man, he's a monster. He transfers his soul into another person's body, takes it over and prolongs his life. He looks to be around in his thirties, while in reality, Orochimaru is older than fifty. He is seeking immortality, and power. I believe that he is after not only Sasuke's body, but also his sharingan."

"How long does Sasuke have until Orochimaru takes over his body?"

"It just depends. Orochimaru will wait until Sasuke is stronger, at his peak and then he will attempt to highjack Sasuke's body. Also, the jutsu that allows this transfer can only be done every five years. So I'd say we've got five years until Sasuke is completely gone."

"So I've got five years to get stronger so that I can defeat Orochimaru and make Sasuke come back."

"If that's how you want to look at it, then yes."

"Do you know where I can find master Jiraiya?"

"He's still in the village so I can let him know you're asking for him."

"Thanks sensei."

**火**

"What did you need kid?" master Jiraiya asks, leaning against the door frame of Layelle's hospital room with his arms folded across his chest.

"I want you to train me like you did for the chuunin exams. Only this time I need to get a lot stronger."

"Would this have something to do with Sasuke going off with Orochimaru?"

"Yes," her voice going very quiet. "I need to get stronger so I can bring him back."

"So you want to get stronger to save your friend, even after what he said to you."

"Yes."

"Well that seems like a pretty good reason. I was going to leave the village again to do some research for a project of mine, so I guess you can tag along. But I warn you, if you do decide to come with me, the training will be brutal and will push you beyond your limits. And of course I'll have you back in time to rescue Sasuke."

"I understand. When do we leave?"

"If you're up to it, meet me at the north gate tomorrow morning at noon. Bring only the necessities."

"I'll be there," a fiery determination blazing in her eyes.

**火**

The next day with the sun blazing, cicadas singing and her travel gear ready, Layelle waits at the front gate to begin her training.

"Layelle!" Sakura yells as she runs up to Layelle. "Good you haven't left yet."

"What's up Sakura?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye before you left to go train with master Jiraiya."

"Oh, well it's not like I'm leaving for good. I'll be back soon."

"I know, but I also wanted to tell you that I'm going to get stronger for Sasuke too. If you're willing to leave your home to train and get stronger, then the least I can do is to try my best to get stronger too."

"Then it's a deal. By the time I come back we will both be stronger. Sakura, I promise that I will get stronger and I promise that I will someday bring Sasuke back."

"Thank you Layelle. I know that you two had gotten close and the things he said to you hurt a lot, so to promise that means a lot to me." Both, no longer innocent girls stand there for a moment before they speak again. "Well I've got to get going, don't be gone too long."

"I won't. Say goodbye to everyone else for me." The two share a hug and then Sakura takes her leave. But several minutes later master Jiraiya shows himself.

"You ready kid?

"Yeah, but by the time we get back you won't be calling me 'kid' anymore."

"We'll see. Let's get going, we have a long and difficult road ahead of us." The two walk out of the gate, Layelle never looking back.

_I have to get stronger. No, I will get stronger. I'm not going to be a weak, annoying girl who faints at the slightest feeling of pain. I will show them all that I am not a weak innocent little girl anymore. Sasuke, someday I will bring you back, I will keep my promise to Sakura, even if I have to drag you back here by your feet. Even if it kills me, I will make you see me._

**Yeah I know this is short, but it felt right to end here. The beginning of the next chapter will start with the time jump, just over 4 years in the future. This is where Layelle becomes strong…practically a whole different person. So exciting!**

**Thanks again for the reviews! They really help me to improve my writing, so thank you very much!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Ugh this is annoying….I do not in any way own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.**

**Warning: Chapters could get longer, but I will update as soon as I can.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

**火**

_**"You are ready. It is time to show them what you have become."**_

___"Yes, it is time…"_

**火**

"Today seems different. Something is going to happen today, I can feel it." Sakura says to herself as she walks to the main gate, a smile on her face. "Yeah, it is going to be a good day."

**火**

"Are you ready kid?"

"One of these days Jiraiya I'm going to make you stop calling me that, and of course I'm ready. It's been four years since I've last set foot in this place."

"Not nervous? Like you said it's been four years since you've seen all your friends."

"Seeing my friends will be a blessing, especially since I've had to put up with your company for all this time," she says sarcastically.

"That was harsh…"

"Whatever, let's just get going. The village is only five minutes away."

Just as Layelle had pointed out, the two reach the village in about five minutes. The familiar wooden gates standing tall and proud greeting them as they approach, the sounds of the city welcoming them home.

_**"Are you nervous?"**_

___"No, why would I be?"_

_**"Was just curious, but never mind that, don't forget what I have taught you. Are you going to let them see how strong you have become?"**_

___"I'm not going to give all my secrets away,"_ Layelle says to the fox, a small laugh escaping her lips.

"What's so funny kiddo?"

"It's nothing."

The two stop just inside of the gate to see Izumo and Kotetsu dozing off, but they quickly awaken when Jiraiya throws two pebbles, hitting them each on the forehead.

"What the ––Master Jiraiya! Layelle! You're back!" A flabbergasted Izumo yells out.

"I'll send a message to the hokage right away so she'll know to be expecting you," Kotetsu adds.

"Nah, no need to do that, we're heading there now."

"Well then you two should get going, see you later."

**火**

"Hey Izumo, Kotetsu." Sakura greets the two with a smile. "I'm here to get the daily traffic report of who's been in and out of the village."

"Oh yeah, speaking of which we had a couple of suspicious looking people walk through here a few minutes ago…" Kotetsu says with a grin on his face.

"Why did you not report it right away?" Sakura says with a frown, but after seeing the sly grin on his face Sakura drops the papers she was carrying. "Layelle is back?"

"Yep, just walked through the gates a few minutes ago, they were headed to the hokage's office. If you leave now I'm sure you'll catch…" But Sakura had already retrieved her fallen papers and was nowhere to be seen.

**火**

_So many people and it's so loud, it's been too long since I've been around this many people._

_**"So you are nervous."**_

___"Can I not have any private thoughts of my own?" _Layelle retorts coldly, obviously avoiding the question. But the fox just laughs instead of replying and disappears into his cage_._

"Layelle!" an all too familiar voice yells out above the noise of the crowd. Turning, Layelle sees Sakura running, a large smile on her face. "Layelle," Sakura pants as she catches up to her teammate. "It's so good to see you! I knew something good was going to happen today. Welcome back!"

"Hey Sakura, long time no see. How have you been?"

"I've been great! There's something I have to tell you, you're going to be so happy!" Sakura exclaims, barely able to contain her excitement.

"We are on our way to see Tsunade, you can tell her afterwards," Jiraiya quickly interjects.

"Okay, well I will walk with you guys I am headed there myself. I have to deliver the…oh crap! I got so excited when I heard you were back that I forgot to pick up some paperwork. I'll catch up with you later!" Sakura says as she hurries back towards the main gate.

As they continue to make their way to the hokage's office several more familiar faces stop to welcome them back, only to hurriedly be ushered off by Jiraiya. Finally they arrive to their destination.

"Welcome back Jiraiya, Layelle. It's been a while. I hope your training has been fruitful."

"Yes m'lady, I have learned much while being absent from the village under Jiraiya's tutelage," Layelle replies back calmly.

"That is good to hear, but I want to see some kind of evidence. I will give you a day to rest from your journey and then you will prove to me that the time you spent away from the village was not a waste. You will meet at the training grounds as usual, along with Sakura where your test will be administered. Of course Sasuke will not be participating."

"Of course he wouldn't be participating, he left the village," Layelle states.

"Jiraiya, you didn't tell her?" Tsunade says, her tone rising.

"Well, no, I thought it would be best to wait."

"Tell me what?" Layelle cuts in. "What are you hiding from me Jiraiya?"

"There's no easy way to tell you so I'm just going to say it, Sasuke has returned to the village."

"What? How long has he been back?" disbelief taking over her face.

"About a month," Lady Tsunade states.

"A month? Jiraiya, why didn't you tell me?" Layelle questions, with ice in her voice.

"I thought it better for you to continue your training without any disruptions. If I had told you that Sasuke was back you would have lost concentration on your training."

"You don't know that. Knowing he was back would have made me work harder to get even stronger."

"I don't agree with Jiraiya for not telling you, but what's done is done. Layelle, take a day to rest before your test."

"Yes ma'am, I understand."

**火**

After being dismissed from the hokage's office, Layelle quickly makes her way back to her old apartment. With dust several inches thick and cobwebs occupying the ceiling, Layelle promptly begins cleaning to get her mind off of the day's events, taking her anger out on any spiders not quick enough to escape her wrath.

_**"Why are you so angry child?"**_

___"He made such a big deal about leaving, how the village was holding him back and being here was such a waste of his time. And now all of a sudden he just comes back? I don't know how else I should feel."_

_**"To feel anger is normal, if you felt anything else I would be worried, especially after what he did to you. You have every right to be angry, so let that anger fuel the fire and give you power. Don't ever forget the hatred you feel towards him for breaking your heart."**_

___"I understand."_ An evil smile on her lips, but a knock on the door ends her conversation with the fox.

"Come in, doors open," in walks Sakura.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you seemed pretty angry earlier after you heard the news."

"Oh, I wasn't angry, I was just a little surprised is all," a cheerful smile replacing the evil one that had taken root earlier.

"Are you sure? I mean I don't know for sure what all happened between you two because I blacked out, but I do know that he really hurt you so if you want to talk about it my door is always open."

After a long pause Layelle finally says something, "I'll admit I am angry that he is back and it is going to take a lot before we could ever be friends again, if we'll ever be able to be friends again. There are some things that I will never be able to forgive him for…"

"I see, thank you for telling me that."

"Where is he being kept?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that. He stays at his family's house and is under constant guard by the ANBU, but he is not allowed to leave the village and is no longer officially a shinobi of the leaf."

"I see…"

"Well I had planned on going to see him today, would you like to come?"

"You go ahead. I think I'm going to stick around here and finish cleaning up. When you've been gone for over four years the dust really piles up."

"Okay, well I'll see you later then."

Alone again, Layelle finishes up cleaning her apartment and steps into the shower, letting the warm water cascade down her body, relaxing her muscles. But the warm water does nothing to help quell the thoughts in her head. After drying off and putting on a pair of black shorts and a sky blue tank top, Layelle leaves her refuge to walk around the village.

_Nothing ever changes around here does it, but they did carve Tsunade's face into the mountainside so I guess that's got to count for something. Should I have gone with Sakura to see Sasuke? I don't think I'm ready yet though. What would I say? Would he apologize for what he did?_ "I don't know!" Layelle accidentally yells aloud instead of inside her head, the many people on the street stop to stare before quickly going back to what they were doing. Once again tense with frustration, Layelle heads to the training grounds, twilight setting in.

Layelle calls upon the power within her and summons a pair of katana, both blade's slightly curved, one with a black blade and hilt and the other with a white blade and hilt. "Akumu [1], Yume [2], you will never betray me."

Closing her eyes, she begins to fight her invisible opponent, pouring her anger and frustration into each kill strike. Her movements flowing like water as she dances with her swords, fighting like someone who had seen many decades of battle. But something unexpected happens, just as she brings Yume down for a head-splitting kill strike, her sword connects with something metallic. Opening her eyes, Layelle isn't surprised to see who intercepted her sword.

"It helps to have an opponent when sword fighting," a familiar emotionless voice says.

"Shatter," Layelle says, her voice dripping with hatred as her swords shatter into tiny pieces of light and disappear. Saying nothing else, she begins to walk off.

"Wait!"

"What do you want, Sasuke?" her back facing him.

"I heard you were back."

"Yeah, so…"

"Do you hate me now?"

"Yes," and without saying anything else Layelle disappears into the night.

**火**

Still frustrated from the previous night's events, Layelle heads back to the training grounds, this time finding a spot where no one could interrupt her. With her swords once again in her hands, she starts her daily routine, keeping her muscles and reflexes agile. After several hours of sword training, Layelle works on her taijutsu and then her ninjutsu, creating craters in the landscape and felling the few unfortunate trees that had gotten in her way.

With the day half over, Layelle decides to call it quits, but on her way home a familiar scent fills her nose causing her stomach to protest with hunger.

_I haven't been to Ichiraku's in forever, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stop in and grab a bowl._

Upon entering the restaurant, Layelle's stomach begins to protest even louder.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's—Layelle, is that you?" The shop owner exclaims.

"Yep, it's me."

"Welcome back! I had heard you were back in town. What took you so long to come see us! I thought we would have been your first stop! Oh well, in honor of your return, your dinner is on us. You'll be having the usual?"

"Yep, miso ramen with extra pork."

"I'll have that right up!"

"Hey Layelle!"

"Oh hey Sakura."

"How are you?" the pink haired shinobi asks as she takes the seat next to Layelle.

"I'm okay, grabbing some dinner before heading back to my place."

"Yeah ramen sounds pretty good. I think I'll have some too, one order of miso ramen please."

"Coming right up!"

"So Layelle, are you nervous for the test tomorrow? I know I am."

"No, not really. I'm pretty sure I can handle anything lady Tsunade can think of, and I'm sure you'll have no problem too.

"Here you go, enjoy!"

Taking a bite, the warm broth quickly spreads through her body, all of her taste buds dancing in delight.

"Even more delicious than I can remember, thank you."

"Anything for our favorite customer."

The two eat their ramen in silence. "Thank you for the meal," Layelle says as she finishes, her bowl making a soft clink as she sets it down on the table.

Getting up to Leave, Layelle is stopped by Sakura, "hey, wait up a second. There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Okay." The two get up and go walk off together, the sun beginning to set.

"Sasuke told me about the other night."

"Oh," is all Layelle manages to say, anger welling up inside of her at the mention of Sasuke's name.

"Do you really hate him?"

"Yes, I do," a cold determination in her voice.

"Why? I mean I know that he said things to you and stuff."

"I don't hate him because he called me annoying and weak and looking back I see that I was. I got over him breaking my wrist and hospitalizing me. But I haven't gotten over him trying to kill me, saying that the village was holding him back because we couldn't live up to his standards, swearing that he would never come back. And now he just comes back all on his own, pretending like nothing ever happened!"

Silence falls upon the two as they walk, but Layelle finally breaks it.

"How did you feel when he came back?"

"I was a little angry at first, but eventually I forgave him. We're friends, but it's not the same as it was before he left," a slight pause. "Well I should probably be getting back to the hospital, there are a few things I need to do before I go home. I'll see you tomorrow Layelle," Sakura says kindly, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," alone again and tired from training all day, Layelle heads home. After stepping out of the shower and putting on grey sweatpants and a black tank top, Layelle goes out to her balcony and sits on the ledge, her pure white hair blowing in the breeze, the moonlight making it seem as if she were glowing. But her peaceful moment is soon disrupted when she sees a pair of yellow eyes staring back at her from the adjacent building. After quickly doing a double take, the eyes are gone. _I must be seeing things, guess it's time to get some sleep._

**I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for taking this long to update! I promise it won't ever happen again!**

**Sorry if this chapter isn't the best, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to write, hope it isn't too bad. Will have the next chapter up by the end of the week!**

**Akumu****[1]****: Nightmare Yume****[2]****: Dream**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCALIMER: I don't own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden**

**Here's the next chapter! Hope y'all like it!**

**Chapter 9**

The next morning, after dressing in her combat clothes that consist of a blood red top cut several inches above her belly button with only one sleeve on the left side, black shorts and black knee high boots with blood red buckles going up the side, **(A/N: Sorry I'm not good at describing clothes)** Layelle leaves for lady Tsunade's test. The previous night's events still troubling her mind, _those eyes…_

"Hey Layelle!" Sakura yells out, disrupting her thoughts.

"Hey Sakura."

"Are you ready for the test? I didn't sleep very well last night because I was too nervous. I'm glad that we can walk together, that way I'm not too nervous anymore."

"Yeah," is all Layelle replies.

"I told Sasuke he should come to watch, hope you don't mind."

"Its fine, I really don't care." For the rest of the way, the two walk in silence.

**Flashback**

"Hey Sasuke?"

"Yeah Sakura?" Sasuke replies in his usual icy tone.

"You should come to the test tomorrow."

"Why? It's not like it has anything to do with me."

"True, but don't you want to see how strong Layelle has become? I know I can't wait to see all that she's learned from master Jiraiya."

"Hn…"

"I think you should come. She seems so sad ever since she got back, she sure has changed."

**End Flashback **

Sakura and Layelle finally reach the place lady Tsunade told them to meet at, surprised to see Kakashi standing next to her and Jiraiya.

"Sakura, Layelle, today you will prove that all your training and hard work was successful. Your task is to defeat your opponent, which will be Kakashi. You will face him individually, but I will let him tell you the details. First will be Sakura, good luck and don't go easy on him," she says with a wink to Sakura. Layelle and the others clear out and wait at the tree line for the test to begin.

_**"You think she'll pass?"**_

___"Yes, I can sense her power and chakra have grown immensely since I last saw her. She should have no problem defeating Kakashi-sensei."_

"Sakura, your task is simple. All you have to do is get the bell from me, simple as that," his one visible eye in the shape of a U as the familiar ring of the bell fills the air. "Oh, and if you're not—"

"Prepared to kill you I won't get the bell," Sakura interrupts, a smile on her face.

"Exactly, but only this time I will have to use this," he says as he lifts up his headband, revealing his sharingan. "On the count of three your test will begin. One…two…three!"

Sakura quickly distances herself from Kakashi, as she prepares for battle. But suddenly she charges towards him, her arm cocked back ready to deliver a blow. As she gets closer, her chakra becomes visible, surrounding her hand in a light green glow. Finally close enough, Sakura strikes, her blow leaving the ground broken, but Kakashi is nowhere in sight.

_That almost hit me! And I'm sure if one does, I'll be done for. She really has become a younger version of Tsunade,_ Kakashi thinks to himself, a sweat drop on his forehead.

"That's my girl!" Lady Tsunade yells from the sidelines, causing Jiraiya to laugh.

Thinking back to the last fight she had with Kakashi, Sakura gathers the chakra for another blow and punches the ground at her feet, revealing a surprised Kakashi among the rubble.

"Found you Sensei," she says playfully.

But a serious atmosphere soon returns as the two begin their battle anew, and after several hours, Sakura comes forth victorious, a smile on her face and the bell wrapped around her finger.

"Congratulations Sakura," Lady Tsunade says as she approaches the two. "You may return to the tree line and tell Layelle to come."

"Yes m'lady." Sakura walks off towards where Layelle was waiting, "Lady Tsunade wants you to go over there."

"Alright, congratulations Sakura. I knew you could do it."

"Thanks, good luck!"

_**"It's time, are you going to show them how strong you've become? That you are no longer a weak little child?"**_

___"Yes, I'm ready. It's time for them to see," _a somewhat evil grin on her lips.

"Layelle, your test will be the same as Sakura's. Get the bell from me to pass and come at me as though you were prepared to kill me."

"Understood."

"Ready, set, go!"

Before Kakashi could finish saying go, Layelle was already nowhere to be seen.

_**"What is the plan?"**_

___"Just wait and see."_

"_Akumu, Yume, come to me so I may destroy my enemies_," she beckons, her eyes closed, and at her call the two katana appear in her hands. Quickly her eyes open, only to reveal her once beautiful cerulean eyes now replaced with blood red ones with a black slit for a pupil.

Calmly Layelle walks up to the somewhat bored looking Kakashi, a smile on her lips. The two enter a battle of blades, her katana against his kunai, in no time Layelle has him over powered and runs her swords through his chest, Kakashi disappearing in a puff of smoke. But he quickly reappears behind Layelle, his kunai up against her throat, but another Layelle appears behind him with her katana at his throat.

"A very good display of using shadow clones Layelle," Kakashi's other clone disappears in a puff of smoke, but both of Layelle's dissipate into a swarm of white and red butterflies. _But what is with her eyes?_

Suddenly, out of nowhere a giant fireball comes flying out of the sky, headed right for Kakashi, closely followed by another, but he dodges both easily. Out of the ground, Layelle appears right behind Kakashi, her swords each glowing with a white and black aura. The two enter another battle, kunai verses katana. Layelle fighting with experience and skill that no one thought possible from someone so young. Finally Layelle manages to land a blow, a small cut on Kakashi's arm, and seeing that she did, Layelle quickly retreats back a few steps.

"Shatter…" and her blades shatter into thousands of tiny pieces of light before disappearing, an evil grin on her lips. "You're done with Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh, and why's that?"

"It's simple," she says as she starts to walk towards Kakashi. "Because I got the bell," now only inches from him she reaches out and simply takes the bell from his belt.

"Wait, why can't I move?"

"My Akumu and Yume have many different properties. Paralysis is the only nonfatal one."

"Sakura, Layelle you have passed the test. Layelle you will now be put on active duty and will start receiving missions starting tomorrow so be prepared."

"Yes ma'am."

"Sakura, you may return to the hospital and complete your tasks for the day, and since you beat Kakashi here I will teach you a new technique later as a reward."

"Yes m'lady! I'll see you later Layelle, bye sensei!" With that Sakura runs off towards the hospital.

"Layelle," Jiraiya beckons, "we need to talk." Obeying her master, Layelle and Jiraiya walk off into the forest. "First off, I want to say congratulations on beating that old Kakashi," a large smile on his face. "But," his tone now gravely serious, "you shouldn't have used that sword technique. You can't fully control it yet and you could have killed Kakashi if you would have lost control. You said so yourself that that paralysis tricks is the only nonfatal side effect of the swords. What would you have done if something else would have happened?"

"I had it under control. I knew what I was doing."

"Then why were your eyes red, that only happens when you lose your temper and are about to lose control?"

"I wasn't going to lose it!" Layelle yells at her master. "I was simply using the fox's power for a little bit. I'm not a child anymore, I can handle it."

"Very well, I trust your judgment. Just don't forget what happened when we were in the land of mountains," his face sad and remorseful.

"I didn't forget…" a tear forming in her cerulean eyes, "I will never forget."

**Sorry this chapter is so short, the next one will be longer, it just felt right to end it here. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden…even though I wish I did.**

**Without further adieu, here is the next chapter!**

**Chapter 10**

The next day, with Jiraiya's words still heavy in her mind, Layelle decides to go for a walk around the village, but soon ending up in an abandoned field surrounded by a lush forest. _Lady Tsunade said I would be receiving missions soon, just not soon enough. _

_**"Don't worry yourself about that old toad, what you did was amazing. Now everyone will start to take you more seriously."**_

_ "Jiraiya was right, what I did was reckless,"_ she says to the fox in her mindscape as she lies in the field. _"I could have killed Kakashi if I had lost control." _

_**"But you didn't…"**_

___"But I'm not a child anymore, I'm eighteen years old, I think I know my own limits!"_

_**"Only by testing your limits will you become stronger. You do want to become stronger right?"**_

___"Of course I do, but—"_

_**"Then sit and listen, I will teach you a new jutsu. This one will make them see how strong you truly are and they will never doubt you again."**_

**Several Hours Later**

Despite training in her mindscape for the better part of the morning, Layelle was exhausted from the mental workout. Deciding that was enough training for the day, she decides to head back home, but as she stands something stops her.

"What do you want Sasuke?" her voice harsh.

"I wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"I heard the scolding Jiraiya gave you."

"You were at the test," she states turning her head, her cheeks slightly blushed with anger. Instead of answering, Sasuke walks up to Layelle, only a few inches separating the two. "What do you want?" her voice smug.

"I came to apologize."

"What?"

"What can I do to make you not hate me anymore?"

After distancing herself from Sasuke, Layelle finally speaks. "You called me weak and pathetic. You said I was a poor excuse for a shinobi, you said we couldn't be friends because I have never experienced the feeling of having something precious taken away from me. That my life has been nothing but easy…" her eyes full of sadness. "But in some ways you were right. You made me see I was weak and how I was a poor excuse for a shinobi because I couldn't even protect my friends. But you're wrong. I have experienced the pain of losing something precious to me, that pain will forever be burned into my memory. Thanks to that pain I have become strong. Thanks to that pain I have learned to not let my emotions take over. Now I can protect my friends and the people I care about." After a few moments of silence, she speaks again. "Why did you come back?"

"I came back because I realized I was wrong. Back then, I was the one who was weak. Sure I learned plenty from Orochimaru and I have confidence that when the time comes I will be able to defeat my brother, but…"

"But?"

"But, I shouldn't have hurt you like I did. Hurting you like that will always haunt me, every day I regret what I did more and more."

"Then why did you do it?" But the sound of a messenger hawk disrupts their conversation. "Sorry, I have to go." Before Sasuke could say anything else, Layelle was gone.

**火**

Upon entering the hokage's office, Layelle sees an unfamiliar boy standing in front of Tsunade's desk next to Sakura. His hair was as black as coal, his eyes were the same color, and his skin was as white as her own hair.

"I received your summons lady Tsunade." She states as she approaches the desk, standing beside the strange boy.

"Yes, I have a mission for you three. Layelle, meet your new teammate. His name is Sai and he will be filling in for Sasuke."

"It is nice to meet you," Sai says with a fake smile on his face and no emotion in his eyes.

"Whatever. What is the mission?"

"You, including Sai and Sakura will be traveling to a small village that is near the northern border of the land of fire. A strange sickness has been plaguing the village and I want you and Sai to investigate while Sakura helps the village doctors."

"Will Kakashi sensei be joining us?" Layelle questions.

"No he has other things to do. I think you three can handle this on your own. Sakura is chuunin level, Sai is jounin level, and even though your official rank is still genine, I think you three will be fine."

_That's right. I'm still technically a genine…_

"You have fifteen minutes to gather your things, and then you will meet at the front gates to start your mission. Sakura will lead the way seeing how she has been there several times already in the past. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," they all say in unison before leaving.

**火**

Quickly, Layelle enters her meager apartment and begins to pack, but a knock at the door draws her attention.

"It's unlocked, you can come in," she says without thinking, not wanting to be late for her first mission in several years. After hearing the door open and close again, Layelle turns around to see who it was, but a frown soon forms on her face. "What is it Sasuke?"

"Don't go on this mission," he states plainly.

"Why would I do something like that?"

"It could be dangerous. You will be near the border of the land of sound."

"Why should you care? Just leave me alone, I've got to—"

"Don't go on this mission," he says as he forcefully backs her up against the wall, his hands firmly planted on the wall by her head. Too shocked to do anything, Layelle just stands there. "Do you understand?"

Quickly coming back to her senses, Layelle forces him away from her, freeing herself, but Sasuke forces her back again.

"What do you want!" she yells at him, her cheeks red.

"Please don't go," his face mere inches away from hers, his hot breath on her neck, a look of concern in his eyes.

"But I have to—" But her words are interrupted when Sasuke's lips touch hers, a dozen different emotions running through her heart…hatred, anger, hurt, forgiveness, sadness and maybe even love among other things. Coming to her senses, Layelle pushes Sasuke off and quickly distances herself from him, her fingertips brushing her lips, her heart racing.

"I have to go," avoiding Sasuke's eyes, Layelle quickly grabs her bag and runs out the door, already several minutes late.

**火**

"Layelle, are you okay? Your cheeks are flushed?" Sakura questions as the three make their way to their destination, but lost in thought Layelle doesn't hear her. "Layelle, did you hear me?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine," her voice sounding more confident in her mind.

"Are you sure? Remember, we're friends, you can tell me anything."

"Thanks."

The three continue to walk in an awkward silence, but finally Sakura says something. "So Sai, what's your story?"

"My story?" he asks whimsically, his usual fake smile on his face. "I have no story. I am simply just a tool for my master to use."

"What kind of an answer is that?" Layelle laughs.

"Yeah, don't you have any family?" Sakura adds in.

"I have no family, for as long as I remember it has just been me. At a young age I was sent to the factory to train and become as strong as I could be."

"Oh, that is so sad." Sakura says remorsefully.

"What about you, uh, umm, billboard brow?"

"What did you just say," her veins slightly bulging on her forehead.

"Sai, you should probably run—", but it was too late Sakura had already landed a right hook on Sai square in the face, resulting in him sprawled out on the ground with his nose bleeding. "If you want to continue living, I'd get on your knees and beg for her forgiveness," Layelle whispers in his ear as she crouches down next to him, a look of amusement on her face.

Quickly, Sai scrambles to his knees and bows his forehead to the ground, "I'm sorry, I didn't think something like that would offend you. Please forgive me," his voice not sincere at all.

_You could at least try to sound somewhat sincere, idiot._

"Sakura, just let it be, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."

"Whatever, let's just get going."

"I guess this is an appropriate time to thank you seeing how Sakura would have punched me again," Sai says politely as he gets up and brushes the dirt off himself. Without warning, Sai walks up to Layelle and plants a kiss right on her lips before stepping back again, Sakura standing there in shock with her mouth hanging open.

"What the hell are you doing!" Layelle yells as she lands a left hook, square in Sai's face, sending him flying. "Akumu, Yume, come to me!" At her call, the two swords appear in her hands, their tips quickly finding Sai's throat.

"Layelle, stop!" Sakura runs over to her teammate after her swords appear, holding her back. "Sai, what did you do that?"

"I read in a book that to thank someone, kissing them is an appropriate way."

"Well I don't what kind of messed up books you read, but kissing someone like that is not okay. Now apologize to Layelle so we can get back on our way."

"I'm sorry Layelle, I didn't mean anything," he says politely, with his usual fake smile on his face.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with so we can get back. Akumu, Yume, shatter."

**火**

After several days of walking in almost complete silence, the three finally reach the small village, what lay before their eyes weighing heavy in their hearts. Many of the houses are in a state of disrepair, fields overrun by weeds and the streets deserted, even a foul smell fills the air despite the many fields of wildflowers that surround the village.

"This is bad," Layelle says quietly.

"Who goes there!" an old man shouts, leading a small group of men carrying weapons.

"We are shinobi from the leave village, we were told you requested assistance," Sakura says politely to the man.

"Thank the gods you're here! Please forgive my rudeness, with so many people sick we didn't want any travelers to enter the village and get sick as well. Please follow us and we will take you to our leader."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. I am Akito, the leader of this village. As you can see, our village is being plagued by an unknown sickness that is rendering many of the residents unconscious and unable to care for themselves and their families. Please do whatever you can and if there is anything you need just ask and we will retrieve it for you."

"Thank you sir, could I please examine some of the infected so I can get an idea of what we're dealing with?"

"Of course, our last remaining doctor of the village will escort you to where the sick are being cared for. Akira sensei, would you please escort Miss Haruno to the main hall?"

"Of course sir, please Miss Haruno, if you would follow me," a tall, middle aged man with brown hair says as he approaches Sakura, and together the two exit the building, leaving Sai and Sakura.

"Sir, while Sakura is helping the doctor, we would like to investigate this sickness. Could you tell us when everything started?"

"It all started about a few weeks ago when a strange man entered the village. He didn't stay for more than a few hours. All he wanted was some food before continuing on."

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Layelle questions.

"He had silver hair, wore glasses and he was young."

"I see. Do you remember where he went?"

"He was heading north, towards the land of sound. Do you know this person?"

"I think I have an idea. If I'm correct then his name is Kabuto and he works for a man, no a demon, by the name of Orochimaru. I'm sure you've heard of him seeing how you are so close to the land of sound."

"Yes I have heard of the name. But why would he release a disease upon our village? Wouldn't that be considered an act of war?"

"I don't know, but Sai and I will investigate and help in any way we can while Sakura tries to help come up with a cure."

"Thank you very much," Akito says as he bows his head down to the floor. "Please help save my village."

"Sai, I need you to send a message back to the village. If Orochimaru is involved we might need backup."

"Of course, I will send it right away."

**火**

"My lady, you have a visitor," Shizune says as she enters the hokage's office.

"Send them in," she replies lazily.

"Right. You can enter."

"Lady Tsunade, why did you send Sakura and Layelle on that mission!" Sasuke yells as he enters the room.

"Well look who it is. Shizune, leave us."

"But my lady…"

"No buts leave us."

"Yes my lady."

"Now, what can I do for you Sasuke?"

"Why would you send Layelle and Sakura on a mission so close to where he could be?"

"I sent Sakura because she is one of the best medical shinobi we have, and I sent Layelle because she is smart and will be able to find out where the disease came from. Regarding Orochimaru, I am not concerned, unless there is a reason I need to be," she says, her eyebrow raised.

"If he learns that they are there then he could use them to get me back. I don't believe that he will sit still and just let me go. He wants my sharingan and will stop at nothing to get it."

"All three of them are highly capable shinobi. If there is any danger they will get out and avoid it. Do you have such little faith in your former teammates?"

"Lady Tsunade, I spent four years with that man, I know what he is capable of, please send backup for them."

"Sasuke Uchiha, you are no longer recognized as a shinobi of this village, therefore you have no say in this matter. And, if you attempt to leave this village you will be brought back here and spend the rest of your days in chains. Consider yourself lucky that you aren't right now. Go home and have more faith in your friends."

"One more question, please."

"Very well," Tsunade sighs.

"What can I do to become a shinobi again?"

"Why would you even ask that? Why should we trust you again?"

"Because, I have realized that there is someone I want to protect, someone I would gladly give up my life for."

"I will think about it. Now go home, Sasuke."

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter! I actually enjoyed writing it and cannot wait to start writing the next one! **

**Please review and let me know how I am doing! Will have the next chapter up soon! ^_^ **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

"Are you making any progress Sakura?"

"A little, it's actually a poison that is causing people to fall unconscious and develop a high fever, eventually leading to death after a few days. I've already started to make an antidote. But what about you and Sai, having any luck?"

"Based off of Akito's description we think Kabuto is the cause."

"What?"

"Yes, Akito gave us a description that matches Kabuto's appearance, and we all know that he is into experimenting with that kind of stuff."

"I see, that makes sense," Sakura says quietly.

"And since you said it is a poison, I think we should be careful of the food and water we consume. Let's stick with the rations we brought, they should last us until you complete your antidote. Who knows what all Kabuto poisoned."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Sai, have you heard anything back from the village?"

"No, not yet."

"Alright, you guys rest, I'll take first watch. We don't know why Kabuto did this, so he might come back."

**火**

"My lady! A message from Sakura and the others was just received!" Shizune exclaims in between breaths.

"Well hand it over!" As ordered, Shizune hands over the decrypted letter, her eyes quickly going back and forth as she reads each line.

"Is something wrong my lady?"

"I know it is late, but assemble team Gai right away. Oh and get Sasuke as well."

"Yes my lady, right away."

"Team Gai reporting for duty!" the always ready to fight team leader proclaims rather loudly.

"I've called you here so late at night because the team consisting of Sakura, Layelle and Sai are most likely in need of backup." After ignoring the 'I told you so' look on Sasuke's face, she continues, "There is reason to believe that the disease plaguing the village that asked for assistance is actually a poison released by Kabuto, Orochimaru's second in command."

"But why is he here?" Neji asks sarcasm thick in his voice.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you asked me what you can do in order to become a shinobi of the leaf. This is the first step. Give any information to team Gai that might concern this matter before they leave."

"It would be easier if I could go with them. Explaining everything could take awhile."

"That is out of the question. Tell them what they need to know so they can leave."

"Very well. I don't know anything about this poison, but one of Orochimaru's hideouts is near the village where they are at, we would pass through there sometimes. If you would give me a map I could show you exactly where it is."

"Right, Shizune quickly get a map of the surrounding area of that village."

"Yes m'lady."

After acquiring the map, Sasuke quickly shows everyone where the secret hideout is located, and having no other information to give for the situation, team Gai heads out.

"Sasuke, are you sure there isn't anything else you want to share? How exactly did you escape? Why did you leave?"

"I told you all that when I first got here," his voice thick with boredom.

"Yes, but your answers didn't seem sincere. Tell me the real reason, consider this the next step."

"I came back because there is someone here I want to protect. The akatsuki are after Layelle, I want to protect her. And how I escaped, I knew Orochimaru was out, I didn't know where he went, so I just left. It was too easy, Orochimaru didn't send anyone after me, it seemed like he didn't care."

"If it seemed like he didn't care, then why do you think he would use Layelle's team to get to you."

"He still wants my eyes. I don't think he's given up, but I do know that he knows that Sakura is my friend and that I care for Layelle," he says, turning his face to the side.

"I see. It is late, you can return home. If I hear any news I will keep you posted. But you must not speak a word of this because technically you aren't supposed to be allowed to know these kinds of things."

**火**

_**"I can sense your unease. You're uneasy because Orochimaru could be close. You want revenge for what he did to Sasuke. You're also uneasy because of that little kiss that you and Sasuke shared,"**_ the fox laughs, but Layelle just ignores him. _**"What are you going to do if Orochimaru does show himself?"**_

___"I'm going to kick his ass and make him pay for everything he has done."_

_**"That sounds more like you,"**_ the fox continues to laugh.

_"Now be quiet, I need to concentrate, I'm going to make sure nobody is near"_

Taking out a kunai from her belt, Layelle makes a small gash in the trunk of the nearest tree, and after making a small cut on her palm she places her hand on the gash. Immediately her mind begins to soar across the landscape, becoming aware of every living thing, ants, squirrels, birds, and everything else nearby. Everything except for the person she is looking for.

_I can't sense anybody. Where did he go? I know he's out there somewhere…_

**火**

"Sakura, how is the antidote coming?"

"I'm putting on the finishing touches so it should be ready by tomorrow. But I wish it would be ready sooner. I'm afraid that there are a few people that might not make it," her voice remorseful.

"You're doing your best and the people know you are trying your hardest. You've barely slept these past few days. So get some rest tonight, if you're exhausted you won't be of any use to the people who are sick. Sai and I will take care of the perimeter. Right Sai?"

"Yes, of course," his fake smile painted on his face.

"Alright, I guess you're right."

**火**

Just as always, Layelle does her routine of checking for any unknown chakra signals, but as always having no luck.

_Still not coming, could I have been wrong? Was Kabuto not really behind this? But if it wasn't him, then who could it be?_

"You look troubled," a voice out of the shadow hisses, the voice sending chills up Layelle's spine. "Are you looking for someone?"

Instead of replying, a feral growl escapes her throat. Dropping her kunai on the ground, Layelle slowly begins to stand up, her back facing the voice. The small cut on her hand starts to instantly heal, her fingernails elongating becoming more like claws and fangs replace her once normal human teeth.

"My my, someone needs to learn how to control their temper. Are you about to lose control?" the voice laughs as a figure steps out of the shadows, revealing the owner of the voice.

"Orochimaru, I am going to kill you!" Layelle suddenly turns around, her cerulean eyes now the color of blood.

"That's not very nice. Now tell me, where is Sasuke? He seems to have gone missing and I would very much like to have him back…" However, before he could finish his sentence, Layelle disappears and then reappears behind Orochimaru, both of her katana piercing through his chest. "Looks like we are going to have to do this through force," he hisses as his body dissolves into a bunch of white snakes.

_**"Looks like you're losing control again," **_the fox laughs.

_"Shut up, I know what I'm doing. Just give me your power."_

_**"As you wish."**_

__Suddenly, the air becomes thick and heavy as red chakra begins to surround Layelle, completely engulfing her. The whisker marks on her face begin to become more visible, two ears begin to take shape from the red chakra, her fangs begin to grow even more and her eyes begin to glow an eerie red color and lastly, a tail begins to form.

"I am going to kill you," Layelle growls murderously.

"We'll see about that," Orochimaru smoothly replies back. "Tell me child, where can I find Sasuke? It is time for him to return, it is time for me to take over his body," he taunts.

"You can't have him!" Layelle's rage and anger becoming more intense as Orochimaru taunts her, turning her blood into fire, and as her rage intensifies, two more tail appear.

"So weak, you couldn't even protect your friend. It is your fault that Sasuke left…" but he couldn't finish. A blood curdling scream erupts from Layelle's throat as a fourth tail begins to form. The whites of her eyes gone, replaced with the color of blood. A red glow slowly consumes her once beautiful fair skin, causing her to scream in even more pain as the fox takes over.

_**"Looks like you just lost it." **_But Layelle doesn't reply to the fox, her mind lost in the rage, her only thought is to destroy the man responsible for taking Sasuke away from her and causing her pain.

**火**

A blood curdling scream awakes Sakura, Sai and the entire village from their dreams as it echoes across the landscape.

"What was that?" Sakura asks no one in particular. "Sai, I've got a bad feeling. We need to go find Layelle."

"Yes I agree. There is an unusual amount of chakra in the air."

**火**

"Gai sensei, did you hear that just now?" Rock Lee asks.

"Yes, something is wrong. We are almost to the village, but there is something off. The air is heavy and charged with a dark chakra. Neji, what do your eyes see?" But Neji remains silent, shock clearly shown on his face. "Neji what is it?" Gai sensei demands.

"A few miles away I am seeing a dark chakra…Orochimaru. But there is something else. I think it is Layelle but her chakra has changed, it is just as dark and evil as Orochimaru's. The air is charged with chakra because immense amounts of it is leaking out of Layelle and saturating that atmosphere. I believe that she is losing control of the demon that lives inside of her."

"We need to move faster and find Sakura and Sai to see what the situation is. Move out!"

**火**

Now with four tails and her body slowly transforming into the fox, Layelle attacks. Her clawed fist slams down into the ground, sending out a shockwave that levels the trees around her and Orochimaru for a mile in every direction and creating a crater. But Orochimaru easily dodges the attack and appears before Layelle unscathed, seeing this Layelle releases another terrifying roar. Faster than a heartbeat, she disappears and quickly reappears behind the snake and sends him flying, his body sheared in half.

"That almost hurt," he taunts, the two halves of his body reconnecting themselves. "What are you going to do now?"

As if responding to his question, a thick and dark liquid begins to permeate from her body and into the air. Once all the liquid comes together in one round mass, it solidifies and heavily falls to the ground, its weight creating another small indentation in the earth. Once the dust settles, Layelle opens her mouth and completely swallows the large mass of pure chakra.

_Now what do you plan on doing with that?_ Orochimaru thinks to himself. _Oh shit!_

Quickly, Orochimaru bites both of his thumbs, drawing blood and makes several hand signs, then slamming his bloody hands onto the ground. Just as a the chakra explodes from Layelle's demonic mouth, three large barriers with faces appear in front of Orochimaru, the black chakra quickly consumes the barriers, destroying everything it touches, birds and animals attempt to flee but are quickly eaten by the black wave.

Several minutes pass before the dust that was thrown up into the air settles, everything destroyed where the blast hit, including the three barriers that Orochimaru summoned, a large gash cut into the earth extending several miles, Orochimaru's feet sticking out of the ground. Upon seeing this, a cruel and evil smile forms upon Layelle's black lips.

But Orochimaru's feet dissipate into many white snakes that burrow themselves into the ground, only for him to reappear on the ledge of the crater. His breath labored and the skin on his facing peeling back, revealing half of the person's face of the body that he last took over.

"I will kill you for this, enough messing around," Orochimaru hisses.

"Layelle!" Sakura yells, out of breath from running at such a high speed. But all she sees is a smaller four tailed version of the nine tailed fox, a gasp escapes her throat. "Layelle is that you?"

Suddenly, her focus changes to Sakura and Sai who are only standing ten feet away. One of her tails whips around and wraps itself around Sakura's wrist, causing her to scream in complete agony. Reacting quickly, Sai begins to draw one of his lion creatures and brings it to life with his chakra. The lion pounces on the tail and bites down on it, distracting the out of control Layelle to release Sakura, who falls to the ground withering in pain, a blood red mark on her wrist.

Just as she was about to do the same thing to Sai, a giant sword appears out of thin air and pierces Layelle's chest. Now completely consumed by her rage and hatred, Layelle roars again making the ground shake and everyone to cover their ears. Wrapping the sword in her claws, Layelle pulls the sword out from her chest and begins to pull, bringing an attached Orochimaru closer. Realizing what was happening. Orochimaru disconnects himself from the sword and drops to the ground.

"Looks like we will have to finish this another time," he hisses as he sees team Gai emerging from the tree line. "I will make you pay for this." Swiftly Orochimaru disappears into the chaos.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" Gai asks as he sees the pink haired girl on the ground in pain.

"I'm…fine. You have to h-help Layelle." She replies gritting her teeth. "You need to c-calm her down. If you don't she could d-destroy everything."

"Understood. Team assemble! We must calm her down before she kills us all."

"How should we do that?" Lee asks gallantly.

"Attacking her would only make her more enraged," Neji adds.

"Maybe we could try talking to her?" Tenten also adds.

But before they could make a decision, Layelle who had been sitting there waiting for her new opponents to attack, slams her fist down again, sending another shockwave. Sai quickly grabs hold of Sakura and carries her away from danger.

"Sakura, how do we calm her down?"

"I-I don't know."

Team Gai continues to evade Layelle's attacks, trying not to anger the already enraged girl. But Tenten, starting to tire gets clipped by one of Layelle's tails and is sent flying. Being distracted by their fallen teammate, the other's are too send flying. All wounded from being touched by the evil chakra, their options slowly dwindle. Just as Layelle was about to deliver a killing strike to Tenten, she disappears.

Confused, Layelle looks around, her gaze stopping on Kakashi holding an unconscious Tenten and Sasuke standing beside him.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yells, finally able to move again now that the pain has subsided. "You need to calm her down!"

**FlashBack**

"Lady Tsunade, please let me go with them." Sasuke pleads.

"This again?" Tsunade replies, slightly annoyed.

"You don't understand. Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it. Please let me go!"

"Now just wait a m—" But she is cut off.

"Lady Tsunade, if I may interrupt," a smooth talking Kakashi interrupts the fuming hokage. "I along with another will escort Sasuke to where Layelle's team is."

"What? Why would I let you do that?"

"If you do not allow him to go then he will never stop pestering you until they return. And besides, this would be a good way to test his loyalty. If you allow him to go and he returns with no struggle then he could be one step closer to becoming a shinobi of the leaf again. It might be a little soon for this but I guess it has to be done sooner or later."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yes ma'am."

"If I allow you to go, and you somehow manage to run off again you will forever be marked as a traitor and if you are ever caught will be killed on site. But if you cooperate and return to the village, I will slowly begin to trust you once again. Is that understood?"

"Yes," a cold determination in his eyes.

"Kakashi, who did you have in mind on helping you escort him?"

"Well, I fear that if something has happened and if it's the worst case scenario and Layelle has lost control of the fox then we will need someone to help calm her."

"A very good choice. Enter!" Right on cue an ANBU agent appears, his face hidden behind a cat mask. "Captain Yamato, you along with Kakashi will escort Sasuke to the location of Layelle's team. If indeed she has lost control of the fox, then you know what to do. Is that understood?"

"Yes m'lady."

"Now be gone!"

**End FlashBack**

**Hope you all enjoyed it! Please review! **

**I have finals coming up so I will update as soon as I can!**

**One last thing, how would you all feel about a possible character death? Please let me know what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here is the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden!**

**Please if you review, don't be rude! I appreciate the criticism that helps me make my story better but please don't be rude and hateful! If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.**

**Chapter 12**

Upon seeing the two, Layelle's rage intensifies, her gaze narrowing on Sasuke. Another roar that shakes the ground and sends birds flying erupts from her throat, sending shivers down everyone's spines.

_Is that really Layelle? _Sasuke worriedly thinks to himself, but his face showing no emotion.

"Sasuke, you must calm her down. If she remains in this state much longer she could die! Distract her so Yamato can seal away the fox's chakra." Kakashi orders as he leaves to take Tenten to safety.

"Right! Layelle! You idiot, you need to calm down!" Sasuke yells.

Upon hearing this, Kakashi sweat drops, _he's only going to make things worse if he talks like that._

"Layelle, what's wrong with you? You hurt your teammates and friends. Orochimaru is gone, so you don't need to be so upset," he yells as he dodges attacks from Layelle. _This is getting me nowhere, she's too enraged. _"I lied…!" He yells, making Layelle stop in her tracks. "I lied during the chuunin exams, Layelle I love you too!" His voice echoing off the walls of the crater.

Seeing her distracted, captain Yamato takes advantage of her distraction and makes the hand signs needed to perform the sealing ritual. Eight wooden pillars shoot out of the earth surrounding Layelle, and four more land on top of her, pinning her to the ground. He then attaches a strand of chakra to the enraged girl's back, then slowly the form of the fox recedes, soon afterwards the red aura too disappears, leaving a blood covered Layelle pinned to the ground. After the wooden pillars disappear, everyone rushes over to their fallen teammate.

**火**

_ "Why did you take my body over like that?"_ Layelle questions harshly.

_**"I might have trained you, made your stronger, but you are not my master. I told you that I will try to escape if an opportunity arises. You let your anger and hatred take over, giving me strength. I believe I mentioned this before I started training you," **_the fox laughs.

_"I will not let this happen again."_

_**"We shall see. Become stronger or else it will. And next time you might not be so fortunate." **_Seeing the confused look on her face, the fox continues. _**"This time you were in a sparsely populated area, next time you might not be."**_

___"I will never let that—" _But before she could finish, everything in her mindscape disappears, leaving nothing but darkness.

**火**

"Sakura what's happening to her?" Sasuke questions his teammate as an unconscious Layelle starts coughing up blood.

"I'm not entirely sure but it looks like when the sword impacted with her chest it didn't pierce it but it appears to have broken several ribs, and based off the blood she is coughing up, it appears that her left lung has been punctured. She needs immediate medical treatment."

"Sakura, if we took her back to the village, could you do it there? At least stabilize her until we could get her back to the leaf?" Kakashi calmly asks.

"I could try, but as soon as she was stabilized we would have to leave immediately for the village. But it's a three day travel; we'd be cutting it close."

"I could get her there in two if we flew," Sai interjects. "I could create a bird and fly her there. Flying would also be better for her since the ride would be smoother than running her there."

"He has a point. Okay, enough talk, we will take her back to the village and stabilize her, Sai you will then take her to the leaf on one of your birds. I will send a messenger beforehand to let lady Tsunade know of the situation."

Gently, Sasuke picks up his unconscious teammate and carries her back to the small village. Sakura then takes her to a private room and begins to stabilize her. After about an hour, she emerges.

"Okay, she is stabilized for now. I have temporarily stopped the bleeding in her lung and bandaged her ribs so they can't do any more damage. Sai, make sure she doesn't move around too much. I gave her a sedative so she shouldn't wake up while you are flying."

"I understand my bird is ready to leave."

"I want to go with you!" Sasuke interrupts.

"Sorry, but I can only fit two people. You'll just have to leave with everyone else."

"But—"

"Sasuke, this meaningless arguing is taking up time. Sai you and Layelle will leave right away. Sasuke you will just leave with the rest of us, and that's that."

Immediately Sai and Layelle depart and head for the leaf village, everyone else heads out on foot.

_Please be okay!_

**火**

"_Why does my body hurt so much?"_

_**"Don't you remember?" **_the fox laughs menacingly.

Suddenly with a loud gasp, Layelle sits up, only to regret it seconds later as a stabbing pain shoots through her chest. "Damn that hurts!" she yells out.

"Looks like she's awake," a familiar voice chuckles.

"Master Jiraiya, you're here. When did you get back?" she asks, this time slowly sitting up slightly wincing at the pain in her chest.

"Easy kiddo, you got banged up pretty bad. And to answer your question I got back this morning. After I got a message telling me about what happened I rushed to get back. How much do you remember?"

"I remember hearing Orochimaru's voice and asking for the fox's power and that's it. Did anything else happen?" her voice quiet.

"No, Orochimaru left soon after you transformed."

"How many tails did I have?"

"Four, but any longer and you would have had five. You were lucky that Sasuke was there to distract you so captain Yamato could suppress the fox's chakra."

"Sasuke was there! How? He can't leave the village! And who's captain Yamato?"

"Lady Tsunade agreed to let him leave the village to help bring you b, Sakura and Sai back safely along with team Gai and Kakashi. Captain Yamato is a fellow shinobi of the leaf. He has a special ability which allows him to suppress the nine tail's chakra," Jiraiya explains.

"Why does my chest hurt so badly?"

" Orochimaru stabbed you and since you were in your fox form it didn't pierce you, but it broke several of your ribs that punctured your lung. Sai flew you back on one of his art birds and since then you've been out for two days."

" Did I hurt anyone?" her voice barely audible.

"Everybody's fine. But now that you're awake I should probably go get Tsunade."

After Jiraiya retrieved Tsunade and after she made sure that Layelle was no longer in any danger, visitors are allowed in.

"How ya feeling?" Sakura questions.

"Not bad, my chest hurts, but I'm okay. What happened to your arm!" Layelle exclaims when she sees the pink haired shinobi's arm wrapped in bandages.

"Oh this?" she asks, looking at her arm. "You know me, I'm such a klutz. When Sai and I were running to find you in the dark I tripped and fell. It's just a sprain so I'll be alright," a smile on her face, Layelle smiles back but it doesn't reach her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," but seeing her friend's raised eyebrow, Layelle quickly looks away. "I can tell you're lying. You didn't get that injury from tripping, I gave it to you didn't I? Lady Tsunade told me about Tenten and the rest of team Gai, I gave them their injuries too, didn't I?"

"Layelle…" Sakura whispers. "It's not your fault. We all knew what could happen when we saw…please don't blame yourself. Nobody was seriously hurt, and we would all gladly do what we did again if it meant helping a friend. Sasuke wanted to know if you'd talk to him once you woke up."

"I don't care," Layelle's voice quiet and weighed down with sadness and guilt.

Soon after Sakura leaves, Sasuke walks in and closes the door, being unable to contain herself Layelle begins to break down in tears. Seeing her crying, Sasuke runs over to Layelle and wraps her in his arms while she cries into his shoulder. Finally after hearing his friend's cries dying down, Sasuke places his hands on Layelle's arms and separates them.

"Layelle, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. For calling you weak and pathetic, for abandoning you and for breaking my promise. And for lying to you."

"Lying…to me?" she asks in between sniffles.

"I said that I didn't care for you and that I didn't have feelings for you, but I lied. I love you Layelle Uzumaki and I always have."

"Sasuke…" her head turned away from him. "How can you say you love me after what you saw? I am a monster, I could have killed everyone. I wanted to kill them all," her voice barely audible.

"What do you mean?"

"After seeing Orochimaru I was out of control, the fox took over my body, fueling my rage even more. It brought so many memories to the surface from when I was younger, how people would throw rocks at me, call me names and try to hurt me. I saw everyone and I wanted to make them pay for what they had done to me. I wanted to destroy them, feel the warmth of their blood on my hands and to see the light leave their eyes. I was going to kill them, I wanted to so badly, but then I heard your voice and the next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Layelle, you would never do that. I know you wouldn't do that," Sasuke says with confidence.

"You don't know that," she replies harshly.

"What do you mean?"

"When I was little, before I became friends with you, some of the villagers would hurt me. They would throw kunai or rocks at me, sneak up behind me and push me down if I was walking on the sidewalks, call me unspeakable things and blame me for their friends and kin dying. I hated them all so much. I wanted to become hokage so that they couldn't do those things to me and so that they would respect me and accept me for who I am. But after what happened, I'm too ashamed. If I did manage to become hokage and I lost control, I could kill everyone!" Tears now streaming down her face again, "I don't deserve to be hokage, I don't deserve everyone's friendship and I don't deserve your love."

"When we were little I promised you that I would never let anyone hurt you, but I broke that promise when I left because I hurt your deeply. But now I am going to make you this promise, I will never let anyone hurt you and I will always love you no matter what. I don't care that the demon fox lives inside of you, or what you have done. I will protect you no matter what, even if it costs me my life."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes I do."

**Sorry this chapter is so short! I promise the next one will be longer. Will update once finals are over!**

**I'm also thinking about writing another story during winter break since I'll have nothing else to do…if you have any story ideas you can PM me! I want to stick with the Naruko/Sasuke thing (will use Naruko for real this time lol). **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Please enjoy the next chapter!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.**

**Chapter 13**

A week later, Layelle is dismissed from the hospital, courtesy of her remarkable regenerative abilities. Ever since the incident at the small village to the north, Tsunade has had both Sasuke and Layelle under constant guard by ANBU agents, Sasuke always carefully watching over her too. But soon, being short on available shinobi, Lady Tsunade has Layelle, Sakura, Sai and Sasuke going out on missions. After one particular mission, Lady Tsunade sent a summons to team seven requesting their presence in Hokage tower.

"You wished to see us Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asks as the four, minus Kakashi enter the room.

"Yes, I've been hearing some disturbing rumors. Word from several reliable sources tells me that Orochimaru is on the move, it seems like an attack on the village is imminent. Most likely he is after Sasuke, seeing how it is time for him to once again switch bodies. Until further notice team seven is not allowed to leave the village. The snake might once again go after Layelle or Sakura to get to Sasuke. You are to help with preparations for the attack. Is that understood?"

"Yes m'lady," they all reply in unison.

"You are all dismissed, except you Layelle. There is something I want to discuss with you."

"Layelle, I am very well aware of what happened during that mission I sent you on when you encountered Orochimaru," her tone serious, but somewhat sad.

"You're afraid that if he does attack the village then I will lose control again and could hurt more people."

"Yes," she replies as Layelle just stands there, her head hanging in defeat. "It hurts me to say this, especially since you are such a talented shinobi, but when the attack comes, you are to have no part in the fighting and are to be locked in a secure location along with Sasuke until everything is over. You will meet with Kakashi after this, he is waiting for you and Sasuke to show you both where you will be staying until after the attack."

"Understood," she replies quietly.

Just as Tsunade had ordered, Sasuke and Layelle are shown where they will stay until after Orochimaru decides to attack the village and is hopefully defeated. They are to stay in a small two bedroom, one bathroom safe house deep inside of Hokage Mountain, constantly guarded by ANBU.

"I feel like I am in prison!" Sasuke yells to the cold concrete walls after two days of staying in the safe house. "I can fight and can easily defeat that stupid snake." But after looking at a somewhat depressed Layelle, the angry look on his face disappears. After she had told him about what Tsunade said, she broke down in tears and cried for several hours.

**FlashBack**

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asks a distraught looking Layelle after they had finished moving into their temporary home. But instead of replying, Layelle just breaks down in tears. Seeing the person he cares most about in pain, Sasuke pulls her into his arms and holds her until her tears had subsided. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she replies in between sniffs.

"Talking can help make you feel better."

After a long pause, Layelle finally speaks, "I'm so ashamed. After what happened on the bridge when we were fighting Haku all those years ago, I swore to myself that I would never let the fox take over my body again. But when I saw Orochimaru I couldn't help myself. I was so angry at him for taking you away and all the pain he has caused everyone, I just lost it. But that's not the worst part…"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asks curiously.

After looking away from him, Layelle finally responds, "I love the feeling I get from the fox taking over my body. All of a sudden my body is teeming with chakra and adrenaline, you feel like you can do anything because you think that there is no one to stop you and that you are the strongest person that exists. It is like a drug, every time you use it you just want to use it more, it is addicting."

"Layelle," Sasuke says as he gently grabs her chin and makes her look him in the eye, "I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep you from transforming," a cold determination in his eyes. "And after Orochimaru is defeated I will find a way to help you control the fox inside of you."

"Sasuke…" An overwhelming feeling of love compels Layelle to close the gap between them and connect her lips with his.

**End FlashBack**

The sound of a grumbling stomach brings Sasuke back to reality, and looking over to its source he can't help but laugh. "Come on dobe let's go get something to eat."

"Aren't we getting a little old for those nicknames, teme?" a smile gracing her beautiful lips as she calls Sasuke by his old nickname.

"Hn. Come on, I'm hungry and judging by the sounds your stomach is making, so are you," he laughs.

Together the two walk the streets of Konoha as they make their way to Layelle's favorite place to eat, Ichiraku's ramen. As they walk the two notice how empty the streets are, minus the shinobi preparing the village for the assault that was sure to come. Most of the buildings are closed and boarded up, their owners in hiding with the rest of the non shinobi population of Konoha. And to their delight, they reach their destination to find its doors open and welcoming customers.

"Hey it's Layelle!" the old man yells at as he sees his favorite customer. "It's been so long since you've been here. I was beginning to think you forgot about us."

"I could never forget about this place. I'll have the usual," Layelle laughs.

"And I'll have what she's having."

"Right! Two bowls of miso ramen with extra pork coming right up!" Soon the two are slurping noodles and enjoying their dinner.

"I'm glad you were still open old man," Layelle says as she finishes her bowl. "It's like a ghost town now."

"Yeah, I wanted to stay open so that the people who are working so hard to protect this village won't go hungry and can have a good meal to fill their stomachs."

"Well thank you for the meal, it was just as delicious as ever. We should probably be getting back. How much do we owe you?" Layelle asks.

"I understand, thanks for stopping by. I have faith in you two and everyone else that will be fighting to protect the village. And the meal is on me."

"Thank you," Sasuke says as he bows his head and the two leave. But instead of returning to their "prison", Sasuke leads Layelle to an open field in the training grounds.

"Shouldn't we go back?"

"We will in a little while, let's just stay here and relax for a little bit. That concrete box is suffocating me," Sasuke replies as he sits down in the wildflower laden field and pats the ground next to him. With a smile on her face, Layelle joins him and together the two lie in the grass and watch enormous white clouds float lazily by across the endless blue sky. Eventually the two fall asleep, their troubles forgotten, at least for a few hours.

**火**

The two are abruptly awoken at the sound of a giant explosion causing both to sit upright in surprise. "What's going on?" Layelle exclaims.

"The village, it's under attack, look over there!" Sasuke yells over the sound of another explosion as he points to the north towards a giant black cloud of smoke. Getting up, Sasuke unsheathes his sword and motions for Layelle to do the same.

"What are you doing? Lady Tsunade—"

"I don't care what she said I will not let the village be destroyed as I hide in safety. Especially since it is because of me that Orochimaru is attacking the village, but I want you to go back to the safe house…please."

"No, if you're going then so am I. I can control it. I have to especially when I know my friends and fellow shinobi are fighting and getting hurt. I'm going to be hokage someday and this is just another way to prove that I have what it takes to become hokage. Let's go!" She proclaims as she grabs Sasuke's hand and they begin to run towards the fighting, but what they see when they reach the frontlines horrifies them.

Bodies from both sides lie scattered throughout the rubble from the gaping hole in the wall surrounding the village. A thick cloud of smoke making it hard to breathe as it floats in the stagnant air. The wounded lay in pools of their own blood as they wait for salvation that will come too late, their last words gurgled as blood fills their lungs.

A rage in the form of fire replaces the blood in Layelle's veins as she sees the atrocity that is the scene in front of her. Seeing her body beginning to shake as her eyes shift from the color of the sky to the color of blood and her teeth change to fangs, Sasuke places his hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, it will be okay. We will make that snake pay for all the death and destruction he has caused." Hearing his words, the fire in her veins disappears but her eyes and fangs remain.

"Let's go," her voice dripping with murder. With Layelle leading, the two quickly make their way to the epicenter of the fight, where no doubt they would find Orochimaru.

**A/N: Hoped you liked it! Will update soon! Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here is the last chapter of the Will of Fire, please enjoy reading it, I know I enjoyed writing it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.**

**Chapter 14**

After much running and fighting off enemy shinobi, Sasuke and Layelle reach their destination. Standing in the rubble of what use to be Hokage tower is Orochimaru, a smile spread across his sadistic lips, blood dripping from his fingertips.

"Sassssuke," he hisses. "Finally you are here. Come with me now and I will call off my men."

"I will never go with you. I already made that mistake once and I will not make it again," Sasuke replies back, his tone cold. "Call off your men and leave, unless you want to die."

"I thought you would say something like that," the snake laughs as he motions to some unseen person. As he does so, several of his men appear, holding an unconscious Sakura, Sai, Kakashi and Tsunade. "Come with me or I will curse them all and most likely they will die, but not until they have experienced what true pain is."

"You sick bastard!" Layelle yells. "Let them go!"

"My my, a lady shouldn't talk like that." Suddenly something nearby explodes, distracting Sasuke and Layelle, as the smoke clears Sasuke's heart sinks. There several feet away from him, Orochimaru stands with a knife to Layelle's throat.

_How did he move so fast, even with my sharingan I couldn't see his moves!_ Sasuke thinks to himself.

"Come with me, or I will curse her first."

"Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this!" he yells back.

"Don't listen to him, run Sasuke!" Layelle yells as she struggles against her captor.

"Orochimaru, if you hurt her I will make sure you suffer more pain than you could ever imagine. Let her go!"

"Such a stupid boy, you've fallen in love with this girl. No, you've fallen in love with a demon, how pathetic." Before Sasuke could do anything else, Orochimaru opens his mouth and scrapes his fangs against Layelle's neck, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Stop it!" Sasuke yells as he charges towards the snake, but a man with a zigzag pattern tattoo on his skin stops him, easily throwing him into a tree as if he were a ragdoll. Recovering from the shock, Sasuke looks up just in time to see Orochimaru sink his teeth into Layelle's neck. "NO!" A scream so horrifying and full of agony escapes from Layelle's throat, turning Sasuke's blood to ice and causing the others to stir from their unconscious state. But something unexpected happens as he drops Layelle's convulsing body to the ground.

Suddenly the air surrounding them becomes heavy and thick, crackling with energy causing sparks of electricity to dance around Layelle's fallen body as a red aura begins to form around her. Slowly as she stands up, her once beautiful pale skin turns to the color of obsidian making her red eyes even more intense, already three tails having formed.

"Layelle no!" Sasuke yells. "Remember what you said, that you never wanted to transform again!" But it was too late Layelle was already too far gone.

"Time for you to die," she growls with murder in her eyes. She begins to slowly walk towards Orochimaru, but is stopped as the fourth tail appears. Unlike last time when she began to take on the shape of the fox her cloak was the color of blood, this time she is enveloped in an obsidian cloak, her eyes glowing red.

Upon seeing the demon before them, the shinobi holding Sakura, Sai, Kakashi and Tsunade turn to run in fear, but they don't get very far. Layelle's four tails speed out towards the running shinobi and impales each of them.

"Sasuke what's going on? Why does Layelle look like that?" Lady Tsunade questions him.

"Orochimaru, he cursed her…" Another roar echoes off Hokage Mountain as Layelle charges towards Orochimaru.

Quickly, he forms several hand signs, "Death Foreseeing jutsu!" Instantaneously Layelle stops moving and is seemingly paralyzed, as Orochimaru begins to laugh. But suddenly his laughing stops, his eyes open wide with shock, his body paralyzed and a grin forms on Layelle's demonic face. Playing out before his eyes, Orochimaru witnesses his death, consumed by red and black flames as he falls into a fissure deep into the earth.

"What just happened?" Sakura asks, puzzled by the paralyzed Orochimaru.

"Somehow Layelle reflected Orochimaru's jutsu back onto him. Right now he is witnessing his own death." Kakashi replies.

Slowly, Layelle approaches the paralyzed Orochimaru, stopping a foot from his frozen form. Her clawed hand becoming engulfed with black and red flames as she reaches out, impaling him with her long claws, the flames taking over his body. And with her free hand, slams her fist into the ground and creates a fissure that extends deep into the earth, the glow of magma casting an eerie glow. With a smile, Layelle slowly pulls out her claws as Orochimaru slowly begins to fall, immediately incinerated as his body reaches the magma.

"Did she just kill Orochimaru?" Sakura questions, afraid that her eyes were playing tricks on her and the events that had just happened was all a dream.

"It looks like it," Tsunade replies grimly.

"But we have another problem," Kakashi interjects. "Yamato is nowhere in sight, and even if he was I don't think he could suppress the nine tail's chakra this time."

"Then what can we do?" Sakura asks.

"I promised Layelle that I would protect her and not let her transform. But I have failed again. I will get her back, even if it kills me," Sasuke says to no one in particular. "I will not abandon her a second time. You guys should go help the others, bringing Layelle back is my responsibility," his expression sad.

"No, we will help, we are all responsible to bring her back, she is our friend," Kakashi says grimly as lady Tsunade nods her head in agreement.

"In the past I was mean and cruel to her, but she has shown me nothing but kindness and forgiveness. I will help," Sakura adds.

"And I as well," Sai also replies.

"What's the plan then?"

"Sakura, you and the others distract her and keep anyone from getting close, I will do the rest."

"Very well," everyone answers in unison. Together the four begin to distract Layelle as best they can, but her sheer strength soon begins to overwhelm them. Soon, all of them are exhausted and have several wounds as a result of being touched by the evil chakra. Suddenly Sasuke appears before an exhausted Sakura, his arms spread out wide and a sad smile on his face as one of Layelle's tails impales him through the abdomen, blood quickly beginning to trickle out of the corner of his mouth.

**Layelle's Mindscape**

The sound of dripping water echoes off the concrete walls of Layelle's mindscape as she stands in the ankle deep water, her left eye glowing yellow (**A/N: like how Sasuke's eyes look)** and her right eye glowing red, black markings covering her body.

_**"Come child, it is almost complete. Remove the seal," **_the fox coos as slowly Layelle walks towards the cage, her steps causing disturbances in the ankle deep water. Carefully she grips the corner of the seal and begins to gradually peel the seal away.

"Layelle! What are you doing?" a familiar voice suddenly yells out.

_**"The Uchiha! Quickly remove my seal so I can destroy the person who has caused you great pain,"**_ the fox says earnestly.

Once again, Layelle slowly begins to remove the seal, but Sasuke's voice stops her, "Layelle stop! Orochimaru is dead and the village is safe from him! You saved everyone, but if you don't get a grip then you are going to destroy the thing you have tried so hard to protect. If you don't stop then a lot of people will—" but a sudden fit of coughing and intense pain interrupts his sentence, blood staining his lips.

Turning around to face him, the evil look in her eyes dissipates as she sees that one of the fox's tails had escaped the cage and is now in Sasuke's abdomen. "Sasuke," her voice distorted, "please save me, make the pain go away. I've hurt someone I care about once again and caused so much destruction," she pleads with tears streaming down her cheeks as she steps closer to the wounded Sasuke. As she finally reaches Sasuke and with a sad smile on her face, gently she unsheathes his sword and places it in his hands. "Please Sasuke, this is the only way."

"No!" he manages to gurgle out.

"You promised to protect me and to keep me from turning into a demon. This is the only way. I can't control both the fox and the curse mark, they are fighting over my body and soon one will win and destroy everything. Please…" she pleads as she leans in and kisses his blood stained lips. With tears gushing out of his eyes and with the last of his strength, Sasuke pushes the tip of his katana through Layelle's heart.

**Normal World**

Gradually Layelle begins to change back into her human form, her body covered in blood and Sasuke's katana through her heart. Slowly Sasuke begins to fall, succumbing to his wounds. Regaining consciousness Layelle drops to her knees and cradles the raven. "Thank you Sasuke. You saved me, but now I will save you. Remember, I will always love you."

A light blue aura begins to surround Layelle as she kisses Sasuke's lips, the aura giving off warm rays of light as it touches Sasuke and the others, gradually becoming more and more intense as the others cover their eyes. But as soon as it had appeared, the light begins to dissipate. Blinking furiously to accustom their eyes back to normal light, everyone stands in shock at the scene before them.

There lying on the ground is Layelle, her eyes frozen open, staring at the starry sky and a smile on her face. Sasuke kneeling over her body, tears flowing down his face, landing on Layelle's cheeks, his wounds completely healed. Sakura and the others move to stand around Sasuke and Layelle, disbelief obvious on their faces as tears also begin to fall from their eyes.

"You can't do this, don't leave me. I love you, please don't go," he chokes out in between sobs. "I love you…"

**火**

Two days later a mass funeral is held in honor of all the fallen shinobi, including Layelle who had been deemed a hero for her acts of heroism that saved the village. Standing at the front of the gathering stands Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and all of the others who thought as Layelle as a friend, all dressed in black with their eyes glassed over with tears as Tsunade addresses everyone.

"Today we honor those who gave up their lives to protect the village from a great evil. They will all be missed, especially Layelle Uzumaki who lost her life while defeating Orochimaru. As we all know, she carried the spirit of the nine tailed fix inside of her, which gave certain people the idea that she herself was a demon that deserved to be tormented and punished for something she had no control over. But I want everyone here to know that she was not a demon, and without her a lot more of us wouldn't be standing here today. Her dream was to become hokage and to prove that she had what it took to protect the village, but sadly her dream was never fulfilled. A special monument will be erected in her honor for her bravery. Everyone here should strive to become more like Layelle Uzumaki, because no matter what was thrown at her she always had a smile on her face and was willing to forgive those people that wronged her. Her body may be gone, but hers and everyone else who were lost, their spirit will remain with us forever."

**火**

Ten years later, an older Sasuke stands in front of the statue of Layelle with her head held high and a smile on her face looking up at the sky. Even though it was only a statue her smile was still infectious, making him smile as all the good memories of her surface in his mind.

"You wouldn't believe everything that has happened. Tenten and Neji are married and have two kids, Sakura and Lee are also getting ready to expect their first child, and even Kakashi has settled down and has a kid. A lot has changed around here, but I am living your dream for you, as hokage I will protect this village not matter what. I will always love you—"

"Daddy! If you don't hurry up then I'm gonna be late for my first day at the academy!" a little girl with long black hair and obsidian eyes calls out as she wraps her arms around Sasuke's leg.

Gently he pries her off his leg and puts her on his shoulders, "And we don't want that do we, Layelle?" he laughs.

"That's the lady I'm named after isn't it daddy?" she asks as she points to the statue.

"Yep, that is Layelle Uzumaki, the hero of Konoha, and if it wasn't for her you wouldn't be here right now."

"She's beautiful! I want to be like her when I grow up." A small chuckle sounds from Sasuke's throat as the two begin to walk towards the academy, but the sound of laughter makes him stop and look back. For an instant Sasuke could have sworn he saw Layelle standing here laughing at him, but as the vision disappears a single tear leaks out of his eyes.

"Why are you crying daddy?"

"It's nothing. Come on we're going to be late."

**A/N: And that's it folks! I really hope you liked reading the story. As I wrote the last part I couldn't help but tear up at bit. I've already got another story in mind and plan on starting on it right away. Thanks again for all the reviews and favorites!**


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